A Child's Destiny
by AsLostAsAliceAsMadAsTheHatter
Summary: One child, one ruler, one villain. Cyberspace hangs in the balance, in the hands, of said child. What will they choose, and will Cyberspace survive?
1. Accidental Adoption

"Maintenance almost complete, Motherboard. Stand by for reboot," Dr. Marbles said as he backed out from under the console.

"That's all there is to it?" Hacker, their son, asked.

Dr. Marbles had created him to help with maintenance on Motherboard, ruler of Cyberspace. She had aided him in the creation of the borg, thus making them his parents.

"Yes, maintenance complete and saved," the older borg answered as he rebooted the supercomputer's firewall.

"Um, Doc?" Hacker said as he noticed the pink glow that always foretold a portal.

"What?"

"Portal."

"Backspace, portal? Incorrect data, there can't be a portal, Motherboard didn't create one."

"Look."

The doctor turned, surprised to indeed see the beginning of a portal. He turned back to the console, furiously typing to cancel the unwanted device. He found he was too late and couldn't override the command. They all watched as the portal opened, a small child tumbling through. They gasped as the little girl sat up and looked around, the portal vanishing behind her.

She was very young and obviously human. It had never been done before, bringing a human into Cyberspace, but there was always a first time for everything. The small girl looked around in awe, taking in the new world she was so suddenly thrust into.

"Where am I?" she asked quietly, her eyes still darting around.

"You're in Cyberspace," Motherboard spoke up, having come back online after her maintenance. "I am Motherboard, and this is Dr. Marbles and our son, Hacker."

"Hi," the girl said, finally focusing on the two borgs.

"Hello," Dr. Marbles said, still shocked that a human was in Cyberspace. "What's your name?"

"Maddie," she whispered, looking away.

"Well don't worry, Maddie," Dr. Marbles said, turning and entering a retrieval code for a new portal, "you'll be home in two nanoseconds."

But the portal refused to appear. He and Motherboard tried several times to open one to the location the girl had been plucked from, but neither could get a clear lock on the area. They looked at each other, at a loss for what to do.

"Are you my new parents?" Maddie asked, her question coated in innocence.

"Backspace," Dr. Marbles managed before Motherboard took over so as not to confuse the girl.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Well, the lady at the orphanage always said my new parents would come and take me away, and this is away."

It was further away than she knew, but neither wanted to tell her that.

"Maddie, it was an accident that brought you here, and it appears it cannot be reversed," Motherboard said. "So for the time being, you'll stay here in Control Central."

"Okay," Maddie replied, just glad to be away from the orphanage.

"This way," Hacker said, guiding her out of the room to show her around.

She was quite cute, Motherboard mused as she watched the girl timidly reach for Hacker's hand. Light blonde hair, small build, the classic doll. It was her eyes that intrigued the supercomputer. One was a light blue, the other a deep green. She had never seen that before, since Cyberspace was mainly inhabited by cyborgs. She could tell that if the child stayed she would become quite popular for her unusual appearance.

* * *

'For the time being' turned into something far more permanent. Both Dr. Marbles and Motherboard found themselves attached to the little girl and couldn't bear to send her home, which wasn't a problem considering neither had found a way. What surprised them was the ease with which Maddie adapted to her new life. She fit in perfectly, even more so when Dr. Marbles inadvertently found out she was a child genius. He had been searching out a new program to boost Motherboard's defenses when she calmly pointed out a minute error he had failed to see. Doubting, he had checked it, only to find the child was correct and that any other error would fry the computer's circuits. It was then he began to train her in the maintenance of Cyberspace's leader.

Hacker became jealous, vengeful even, though neither Dr. Marbles nor Motherboard noticed until it was too late. They drained his power, banishing him to the desolate Northern Frontier, and gaining Digit in the process.

* * *

"Mommy!"

The shriek rang through Control Central, jarring the computer out of sleep mode. A small blur raced into the room, darting under the console to her favorite place. She could hear the sobbing as the three year old nestled back into the small space, sighing as she realized it was yet another nightmare. She supposed she really should stop the child from watching the Castleblanca channel.

"What's wrong, Maddie?" she questioned.

"Nightmare," the child whimpered, but made no move to come out.

Maddie liked the warmth that surrounded her underneath the console. Though her mother couldn't physically wrap her arms around her to comfort her, when she was underneath it felt like a hug.

"Have you been watching those scary movies with Digit again?"

"No...maybe," she amended when she felt the temperature flair around her.

"Maddie, you know you're not supposed to watch them until you're older."

"I know Mommy, but Digit told me they weren't scary."

Motherboard sighed. She would have to have a talk with Digit about appropriate things for small children to watch. He loved his little sister, there was no doubt about it, but sometimes he misjudged a situation and unintentionally scared her. Before she could begin trying to coax the small blonde out from her hiding space, Dr. Marbles wandered in, looking exhausted but worried.

"Did she run in here?" he asked.

"Yes, she's hiding."

Maddie's sobs slowed a bit.

"Daddy?" she questioned just to make sure, though she knew her mother would protect her.

"Yes, my little gigabyte, I'm here."

The child flew out from under the console into her father's arms, burying her face in his neck and sobbing anew. Motherboard watched, pained that she couldn't comfort her own child properly. Marbles soothed the girl, finally calming her so that she stopped crying.

"Say goodnight to your mother," he said, lifting her so that she could touch the massive screen Motherboard was displayed on.

A small hand brushed the bottom of her screen.

"Night, Mommy."

He carried her back to bed, tucking her in and kissing her goodnight.

"Dr. Marbles," he heard Motherboard call before he made it back to his own room. He re-entered the control room, yawning and hoping whatever she wanted would be quick.

"Yes, Motherboard?"

"I have a favor to ask of you. Would it be possible for you to build an android body for me?"

"It might be possible, but highly unadvised. For you to be out of control for even a short while could cause utter chaos."

"I understand, but I must admit I'm..." she trailed off, unsure of how to best finish the sentence.

"You're what?" Dr. Marbles asked.

"Concerned."

"About what? You're a wonderful ruler, everyone loves you."

"Not that. I'm concerned about Maddie."

Now he was truly baffled. What was she concerned about? The girl was perfectly healthy, coming along nicely in her studies, and she adored her. He didn't see the problem, but then he really was useless at this sort of thing.

"What's there to be concerned about? She's perfectly healthy and advancing well in her studies."

"Not that," she sighed, wishing she didn't have to voice her fear aloud. "I'm worried that I might not be a suitable mother."

"She adores you, can't you see that?" he asked, astounded she would ever consider herself inadequate.

"Maybe so, but she deserves a mother who can hug her, kiss her goodnight, touch her when she needs comfort. I can't do any of those things."

"Maddie doesn't care about any of that. She loves you, so much. Who does she always run to when she's upset or has a nightmare? What's her favorite hiding place? Where does she spend nearly all of her time? Her world revolves around you, don't you see? You're literally the center of it."

His speech moved something in the supercomputer, but it wasn't enough to discourage her from her goal.

"Perhaps you're right, but it doesn't change the fact that I can only watch her, not interact with her. Please Marbles, do this for me, make me this body so I can spend time with her as a mother should."

He sighed, sensing he wasn't going to win the argument.

"It's against my better judgement, but I'll do it." He yawned, once again realizing how late it was. "I'll confer with you in the morning on the appearance of the shell, as well as the correct program to allow transfer."

"Thank you. Goodnight, Marbles," Motherboard said, her way of ending the conversation.

"Goodnight, Motherboard," Dr. Marbles said, exiting control.

She smiled as she began to power down. She knew her friend was right, that it wasn't safe to be out of her main screen too long, but she had to do it for her daughter. Satisfied that soon she'd be a better mother, she closed down her final programs for the night. Sleep mode activated.


	2. A Cyborg is Born

Maddie's fourth birthday was drawing near, and Motherboard was anxious. Dr. Marbles had completed her cyborg body months previous, but he had yet to discover a safe way to transfer her into it without frying both her main screen's circuits and her body's circuits. She wanted it to be a surprise for the girl's birthday, but it didn't appear her wish would come true. Maddie didn't notice anything amiss, surprising considering her incredible intelligence. She passed her days in the control room with Motherboard, playing or learning the ins and outs of the supercomputer under her father's supervision.

She really was still a young child, which was sometimes easy to forget when she could be heard reciting quantum physics like the ABCs, but they were grateful for it. It made it so much easier to hide their project from her. Motherboard wanted it to be a surprise, wanted to give her something special, something that would truly be unforgettable. She didn't stop to consider the ramifications of her choice, too concerned with her end goal. She never stopped to think of what Maddie's reaction to her new form might be, and why would she? She was so used to her normal body that the thought never occurred to her.

"I've done it!" Dr. Marbles shouted triumphantly, barging into the room.

"Shhh!" Motherboard quickly hissed, determined to keep her overactive child asleep a little longer.

Marbles looked across the room to where the toddler lay, sound asleep in the middle of her stuffed animals at the base of Motherboard's control panel. Wincing at his mistake, he tip-toed the rest of the way across the room, deftly avoiding any stray toys.

"I've done it," he repeated in a whisper once he'd reached the supercomputer.

"Done what?" she asked, more concerned with the fact that Maddie was beginning to stir.

"I've found a way to successfully transfer you from your screen to your android."

"You have? Finally?"

She didn't mean to sound so ungrateful, as she realized she had, but her excitement got the better of her.

"Yes. It was only a matter of converting your program and files into a single code, then zipping that onto a disk, which will then be unzipped once in the android. Simple really, and so obvious I completely missed it."

Only Dr. Marbles could think something such as transferring Cyberspace's ruler into a new body was simple.

"Thank you so much," Motherboard replied, nearly in tears.

Finally, she would get to hold her child.

"When do you want to test it?" Dr. Marbles asked.

"Maddie's birthday is in two days, why don't we do it then? It would be the perfect present."

Their conversation was cut short when the little girl yawned, opening her eyes and looking up at her parents.

"Mommy," Maddie said, fixing her still sleepy gaze on the computer, "what are you going to test?"

"Nothing important, sweetheart. Did Daddy and I wake you up?" The girl nodded, yawning and clutching her stuffed bunny close. "We're sorry. Do you want me to sing you back to sleep?"

Receiving another nod, she began to softly sing a lullaby that always put the toddler to sleep. Dr. Marbles watched, a smile on his face, as Motherboard yet again showed extreme love and care for the child. She rarely sang, her numerous updates and constant vigilance of Cyberspace leaving little time for such things, but if Maddie asked, she dropped everything. He would never understand why she thought she was incompetent as a mother.

Everyone was anxious the morning of Maddie's birthday, each for a different reason. Motherboard because of the surprise she had planned that she wasn't even sure was going to work, Marbles because he still wasn't entirely sure that such a massive transfer wouldn't fry circuits, and Digit because, well, in actual time he was only a few months old, rather than the twenty-something Hacker had built him to be, so he didn't know what to expect. Maddie was just excited, mistaking the well-masked anxiousness for exhilaration. She was extremely happy to walk into the control room to find it decorated in bright pastel colors, a small pile of gifts next to a small cake. Her overjoyed squeal rang through the air as she ran over to the table.

"Happy birthday, Maddie," Motherboard said, smiling brightly.

"Is all this for me?" the little girl asked, amazed and nearly overwhelmed, never having a celebration at the orphanage.

"Of course it is," Dr. Marbles said, entering with Digit. "Happy birthday, my little gigabyte."

"Happy birthday, Sis," Digit added, following Dr. Marbles' lead.

Dr. Marbles picked up the grinning child, swinging her around a bit for affect. She giggled happily, hugging her father tightly when she came to rest in his arms. Motherboard watched, the sadness of missing out dulled by the thought of what was to come.

"Can I open the presents now?" Maddie asked, energy overflowing.

"Of course."

She raced over to the table, choosing a small but brightly colored package. She tore it open, paper drifting to the ground. A bottle cap necklace was revealed, the bottle cap slightly bent and faded.

"It's from the first tower we built together, remember?" Digit asked, worried she wouldn't like it.

"Of course I remember! I love it, thanks Dige!" Maddie cried, hurriedly clasping it around her neck.

Her parents smiled above her head, touched by the sentimentality in the gift. The next thing to be opened was a new slugball glove, something the child had wanted ever since she'd first seen a game. The biggest present was last, a small motorbike from her father, which she immediately insisted upon riding. Digit stepped over to help her master the steering, and both missed Dr. Marbles disappear from the room. They also missed the moment he returned with a small drive, and when Motherboard suddenly vanished from her screen.

"Maddie," Dr. Marbles called from the doorway.

She stopped her bike, climbing down and crossing to him.

"What, Daddy?"

"There's one more present for you, a special surprise from your mother. Close your eyes." He waited until he was sure she wouldn't peek before ushering a newly designed android into the room. "Okay, open them."

Maddie opened her eyes to see a strange woman towering over her. She didn't hesitate before screaming and running to her father. Motherboard frowned, hurt that her own child didn't recognize her.

"Ssh, ssh, Maddie calm down, that's your mother," Dr. Marbles attempted to explain.

"No she's not! My mommy is on the screen, see?!" she sobbed hysterically, frightened, failing to notice there was no one displayed on the screen.

"Sssh, look more closely."

She looked, surprised to see the screen empty.

"W-where's Mommy?" she whimpered, still refusing to look at the strange woman.

"She's right here, turn and look."

"No! She's not my mommy!"

Dr. Marbles sighed, giving Motherboard a helpless look. The woman frowned more deeply before stepping forward and placing a hand on the little girl's back.

"Maddie, sweetheart, turn around," she said, hoping the child would understand once she heard her voice.

"M-Mommy?" Maddie questioned as she turned, tears still glittering in her eyes.

Motherboard smiled, and Maddie recognized that smile. No one but her mommy could smile with so much love and warmth. Looking closely, she could see the resemblances the woman shared with the mother she knew. Her eyes were electric blue, and her hair was blue and wavy, brushing her shoulders. She stood at a medium height, with a slim build, and was perfectly proportioned, clearly the work of her father. She was young, late twenties to early thirties at most, but radiated a maturity that spoke of eons of life. Finally smiling, she reached out to the woman she now knew to be her mother.

Motherboard took her with a smile, internally sighing with relief. Time seemed to stop as the weight of her daughter settled in her arms and little arms wrapped around her neck. So that was what it felt like to be able to touch. It was amazing, and she didn't understand how she had lived so long without experiencing it. Digit and Dr. Marbles watched in awe as mother and daughter bonded, the moment one they would never forget.

Maddie pulled back, readjusting to look at her father.

"Daddy, this is amazing." She began running her small hands across Motherboard's face, neck and shoulders, searching for different panels and ports, finding none. The woman remained still, allowing the little genius her exploration. "I wondered if you could do this, transfer consciousness into another shell. Hacker doesn't count because you built him completely, but this...this is astounding."

Just as quickly, she was back to her four-year-old mentality, jabbering on about how her mother now had to play certain games with her, read to her, tuck her in, and almost everything else Dr. Marbles did daily. Motherboard smiled, feeling something wet slip down her cheeks. Maddie stopped talking, staring at her intently.

"Mommy, why are you crying?"

Motherboard lifted a hand to her face, touching the salty trails in wonder. She had never truly cried before, and when she had in the past it had been in computer code, not physical tears. There were so many things to learn, to experience, and she had no doubt Maddie would greatly contribute.

"Because I'm happy," she finally answered.

"Oh." The little girl once again wrapped her in a hug, kissing her cheek and renewing the flow of tears. "I'm happy, too," she whispered in her ear. "I love you, Mommy."

Years passed peacefully, Maddie growing rapidly and happily. She grew smarter each day, and by the time she was seven she had mastered all the mechanics required to maintenance Motherboard, making her the youngest to ever work on the supercomputer. All of Cyberspace knew of her accomplishments, and adored her, not only because of who her parents were, but because of her contributions to society. It was amazing to Dr. Marbles to look at his daughter and realize that she was the same child who had tumbled into his life four years previous. He found it hard to recall his life before Maddie had entered it, only realizing how boring it had been.

He smiled as he watched her play with her mother, the same one who had been afraid to raise a child in the beginning, who was afraid of her capability, the same one currently being pinned and tickled by the seven-year-old. He was brought back to himself as the monitor picked up someone outside. He zoomed in, watching intently, confused as whatever it was vanished. He turned at the triumphant cry of Motherboard flipping her daughter over and turning the tables. He decided Digit could handle Cyberspace for the moment, his friend looked like she needed help tickling their daughter.

He had just reached the pair when the doors leading into the room hissed open. He gasped, stepping protectively in front of the two as the cyborg who had triggered the doors was revealed. Motherboard and Maddie began to calm, surprised by his protective gesture.

"Daddy," Maddie giggled, not noticing the newcomer, "what are you doing?"

"Aw, did I interrupt something?" a familiar voice sounded, coated in fake sincerity. "Soooo sorry."

"Hacker," Motherboard gasped, standing up.

The traitor's eyes darted to her, and she realized her mistake too late. Luckily for her, the years apart had dulled the borg's memory of her voice.

"Ah, looks like you've finally gotten a life, Marbles. Tell me, who's this pretty little cyborg?"

She shuddered at the way he leered at her, as if she was a piece of meat.

"Allison," she said, hoping he wouldn't suddenly realize her true identity. "I'm his sister."

"Wonderful for you. Now, here's what's going to happen: you're going to give me control of Cyberspace or I'm taking her," He pointed at Maddie, "back to the Grim Wreaker."

"No way!" Digit yelled, making himself known.

He flew in front of Maddie protectively, though Hacker merely laughed at him.

"Oh how cute, the cyberturkey wants to play the hero." He sobered, glaring at Dr. Marbles and "Allison". "I don't think you understood me. Cyberspace or the girl."

"Neither. Now leave before I permanently delete you!" Marbles yelled.

"Fine, have it your way. Delete!" Hacker yelled, and a pair of robotic arms appeared from behind him, encircling Maddie.

She screamed, struggling to free herself while Hacker laughed. Dr. Marbles and Motherboard watched helplessly as their daughter disappeared from the room. Digit was enraged and attempted to attack the larger cyborg, only to be batted to the side.

"Tell Motherboard she has one hour to surrender or her precious brat gets it!" Hacker yelled, swooping out of the room.

The two were stunned, momentarily rendered immobile until the whoosh of the doors closing jarred them into motion. Motherboard ran over to the control panel, Dr. Marbles close behind. They rushed to transfer her back into the large computer, determined to locate their daughter. As they worked, one thought occupied their minds:

Hacker was back.


	3. Horrors and Defeats

Maddie was scared. She knew she was the one thing standing between Hacker and the safety of all of Cyberspace, including her mother. She knew what he was after, how could she not? She was one of only two people in the whole of Cyberspace that knew the ins and outs of how her mother operated, and before her father had drained his power Hacker had vowed he would one day rule all of Cyberspace. The information stored in her mind was enough to dismantle the supercomputer a thousand times over, and she was determined not to let him get it. She steeled her nerves, locking away her fear.

A robot, she thought she remembered Hacker calling him Delete, kept her immobile. Her eyes darted around, taking in the ship and all possible exits or weaknesses.

"Poor little Maddie, taken from her _loving_ family," Hacker said, and she could hear the jealousy and disdain dripping from the word. "Motherboard will do anything to get her precious daughter back unharmed. But the question is, do I want all of Cyberspace with her still functioning? I think not. So here's what's going to happen. You're going to tell me exactly how to dismantle that heap of scrap metal you call mother. How's that sound?"

"Like a delusion," Maddie spat. She had never liked Hacker, not even when he was still working for her mother. "If you think I'm going to help you do anything you must be crazier than I thought."

"Such spunk. I hate it." He crossed over to her and gripped her face roughly. "Now you listen to me brat, you're going to do exactly what I tell you. If you don't, when I do gain control of Cyberspace, not only will I dismantle Motherboard, I'll throw all her parts in a black hole. Understand?"

His grip was tight, and her face ached. The way he held her left her no choice but to agree, but she wasn't about to give in that easily. If he wanted her information he'd have to download it from her after she was dead.

"I understand," she said slowly, waiting until he'd loosened his grip before biting down on his fingers.

It was metal, and it hurt, but she succeeded in denting his hand. Hacker yelled in pain before back handing her. Maddie's head snapped to the side and she gasped, never having been hit before. Against her will, tears sprang to her eyes.

"There are much worse things than that if you ever contemplate lashing out again," Hacker growled, pure hate evident in his tone.

"Why do you want this so much?" Maddie asked, determined to know what had triggered this new personality.

"Because Motherboard's washed-up, a has-been!" he snapped. "I'm better suited to rule! They never saw my potential, never! Especially after you came along. It was always "Maddie this" and "Maddie that"!

Maddie, Maddie, Maddie! What made you so special? Nothing! You were just an orphaned earth brat that accidentally fell through a portal! Motherboard didn't even want you!

She tried desperately to get rid of you, so did your beloved father! You weren't wanted, at least not until Marbles realized he could use you to maintenance Motherboard so he wouldn't have to! They only want your brain power, not you!"

He was panting as he finished his speech, anger radiating from him in waves. His words stung, even though the girl knew they held only partial truth. She knew her parents originally hadn't wanted to keep her, but they had, and they loved her. They were a family, and Hacker wasn't going to get to her.

"No one is better than The Hacker, especially not a small child!"

He stormed away, and Maddie just stared. She couldn't believe jealousy was behind this. Actually, yes she could. Hacker had always been an a attention hog, often getting angry when he wasn't recognized for something minute.

"Delete!" Hacker yelled. "Toss her into the holding cell!"

She gasped as she was roughly thrown into a clear glass ball underneath the ship. It locked as soon as she was inside, and she knew as she looked at the lock that she wasn't going to be free anytime soon."Come on, Mom," she whispered to herself, "get me out of here."

* * *

Motherboard was frantic. Hacker was unpredictable, he always had been, and now he had her daughter. She had all her monitors tracing across Cyberspace in the hope that she'd find his ship. So far they had no idea where he was or what he planned to do, but it couldn't be anything good.

She could feel her circuitry overheating while she searched, and knew she was overworking herself. Dr. Marbles had already sounded the alarm to all Cybersites that Maddie had been kidnapped and that anyone who saw the Grim Wreaker was to report to Control Central immediately. Logically, there was nothing they could do but wait. They had forty-five minutes before Hacker was supposed to check in for their surrender, and since that had never been an option they had to hope someone would spot him. Digit and Dr. Marbles had offered to split up and search for her, but they all knew there was no way they'd find her in time.

"Motherboard, calm down," Digit said, flying into her line of sight.

"Calm down?!" she snapped, something she rarely did. "Hacker has Maddie and we don't have a clue where they could be or what he's doing to her! How can I possibly calm down?!"

She felt bad as she watched the cybird cringe. She knew he was only trying to help, but her nerves were frayed, she was overheating, and she was scared.

"I'm sorry," she said, sighing. "I'm just worried. We don't know what Hacker is capable of."

The "and he's got my baby" went unspoken, but Digit understood. He was worried for his little sister, but unlike Dr. Marbles and Motherboard he had faith that she could handle herself. The kid was a super genius, if anyone could defeat Hacker it was Maddie. He was snapped out of his thoughts as smoke began to fill the room.

"She's overheating!" Dr. Marbles cried, rushing to the console and typing in several commands and override codes. Motherboard dimmed before flickering away completely, the screen flashing blue with the words "emergency stand-by mode activated" flashing across the monitor. "There, that should do it."

He slumped against the console and Digit flew down beside him. He had his face hidden in his hands, though he wasn't crying.

"You okay, Doc?" Digit asked.

"He took her from behind me, Digit. I failed," the man said, not yet removing his hands.

"Failed? What do you mean?"

"Failed to protect her. I'm her father, I'm supposed to keep her safe, but I didn't. An error occurred under my supervision." He dropped his hands. "What if something happens to her? What if we don't get her back?"

Digit placed a wing on his shoulder, hoping to offer some form of comfort.

"Don't worry, Doc, we'll get her back. Besides, Maddie's a smart kid. If anyone can handle Hacker it's her."

* * *

Maddie was pacing in her small prison. There were several options that would guarantee her escape, but only a few that would ensure Hacker would never bother them again. She looked up as she noticed something glittering in the distance. She gasped as she realized where she was. The Spheres of Fear, the creepiest place in Cyberspace, including Castleblanca.

They flew around several of the Spheres until they reached one that was nearly barren. It was one of the smallest ones, barely half the size of its neighbors. She knew what was going to happen even before the gate opened. Her small ball detached from the Wreaker, rolling into the sphere where the gate resealed and her own lock opened. She was reluctant to exit the small ball since she didn't know exactly what awaited her.

She had heard stories of course, all children did, of what lurked in the spheres. Each was was designed differently, contained different common fears and different creatures. The problem was, she had no idea which sphere she was in, therefore she didn't know what was outside. Cautiously, she ventured out, aware the Wreaker was hovering outside. _'Probably to see what happens,'_ she thought.

When nothing attacked her right off the bat she gained more confidence and began to explore, hoping to find a way to open the lock and escape.

* * *

"Boss, nothing's happening!" Buzz said, staring at the monitor that showed them Maddie.

"I thought the Spheres of Fear were supposed to scare her," Delete said.

Both turned to look at Hacker, who was casually leaning back in his chair, a smirk dominating his features.

"Just wait, the show hasn't begun yet."

* * *

Unafraid now that she deemed the sphere harmless, Maddie wandered around observing the few plants that appeared to be growing. She was startled by a scream, but it wasn't just any scream. It sounded like her father, and as soon as she determined she wasn't hearing things she was running toward the sound. She came upon her father, at least, it _looked_ like her father, and she immediately wished she hadn't. He was in obvious pain, and a hulking figure was inflicting more torture upon him.

"No!" Maddie screamed. "Leave him alone!"

The figure ignored her, continuing with its work. She soon found she could do nothing to stop it when her various efforts only made it worse. Helplessly, she stood and watched as her father was tortured to death. She saw things no seven year old should ever have to see, and it was made worse because it all happened to her father. Just when she thought it couldn't get any worse, Digit's scream filled the air.

She was off again, toward a different direction, and was once again forced to watch as her brother had his feathers plucked one by one. Tears were streaming down her face, and her arms had bruises from where she was hugging herself. She curled into a ball on the ground, sobbing and forgetting the possibility that everything she was seeing was fake. Finally, silence took the place of screaming. Hesitantly, she lifted her head, relieved to find that Digit had vanished.

She slowly uncurled from her ball, wiping her tears and composing herself. Just when she thought it was over, one last scream sounded out. Her eyes widened, and the weight of terror settled over her once again.

"MOM!" she screamed, yet again running toward the sound.

She hit her knees as she reached the scene, too stunned to function properly. Her mother was there, in her monitor, being dismantled piece by piece. A black hole was swirling off to the side, each piece disappearing as it was removed. Maddie began to scream, pulling at her hair and trying desperately to ignore the scene in front of her.

* * *

"See, boys? There's the show."

"I don't get it, Boss. What's goin on down there? How are Motherboard and Dr. Marbles here?" Buzz asked.

"You Duncebucket! They're not really here, they're an illusion! This sphere is designed to find a person's worst fears and create them in real life. Apparently the brat's worst fear is losing that mismatched menagerie she calls family," Hacker explained.

He glanced at the timer, which displayed there were only twenty minutes left before Motherboard surrendered.

"Keep watching, there's more fun to come."

* * *

Maddie was sure she was in hell. Once she had finished watching her mother get dismantled it began all over again. Over and over it went, she witnessed her family's demise in several different ways, all unique and things she had never considered. She had just finished watched her mother get killed in her cyborg form for the fifth time when the door to the sphere hissed open. She ran for it, uncaring that she would most likely be swept back into the Grim Wreaker.

Sure enough, a metal claw grabbed her as soon as she was near the door. She wiped her eyes. She decided she was done playing Hacker's little game. She was going home and he was going to pay.

"Are you ready to tell me those secrets now, girlie?" Hacker asked as the claw released her. Maddie remained silent, head bowed submissively. Hacker smiled in glee, thrilled at the thought that he had broken her will. "Answer me, brat."

Maddie's head snapped up, and the look on her face slightly scared him. She was scowling, pure hatred evident in her features. Her eyes flashed, seeming for a moment almost electric. He gulped, for the first time afraid.

"Hacker," Maddie growled, "this is the last time you mess with me."

She surged forward, her fist colliding with his face. She winced as she felt her knuckles tear open, but it was worth it for the sound of crumpling metal. She ran her hand across his chest until she found his power pack, forcefully yanking it away and severing the wires connecting it to him. He wouldn't be able to hold a charge anymore, nor charge period. Buzz and Delete watched in horror, never having seen anything like it.

Maddie dropped to the floor, power pack in hand. The gaping hole where it had once been sparked and fizzed, raw wires exposed. She exhaled, her anger leaving her. Exhaustion filled her, and she turned to the two cowering robots in the corner.

"Take me home," she said quietly.

They nodded furiously before moving to the controls.

"What are you doing you duncebuckets?!" Hacker cried. "Don't listen to her!"

His words fell on deaf ears as the bots piloted the ship back to Control Central. Before Maddie left the Wreaker she reprogrammed its course for the farthest edge of Cyberspace. Hacker tried to stop her, but without his power pack he was quickly losing energy. She gave him a final glare before jumping down onto the entry ramp to Control Central. She remained outside until she was sure the ship was far away.

Dr. Marbles had just rebooted Motherboard when the alarm sounded, alerting them that someone was outside. He was in the process of putting up the shields when the doors opened. Expecting Hacker, he turned to face him. He was met with the sight of a bruised and disheveled Maddie.

"Maddie!" Digit cried before he could utter a word.

He flew across the room and wrapped the girl in a hug. She hugged him back, beginning to sob once more, relief and the last of her fear presenting itself. Dr. Marbles snapped to attention, taking a step toward them, but stopped when he heard Motherboard's pained gasp. He turned back and quickly downloaded her into her android form. They both rushed over, worry dominating their emotions.

Digit was trying to calm the girl, whispering calming words. He backed away when he heard them come up behind him. Maddie looked up at her parents, new tears forming. Motherboard stepped forward and took her daughter into her arms, hugging her close and kissing her head. Dr. Marbles wrapped his arms around both of them, also kissing her.

"He's gone," Maddie whispered.

"What?" Motherboard asked.

"Hacker, he's gone. I took this," she showed them the power pack, "and sent his ship to the edge of Cyberspace."

"Without this he won't be able to charge," Dr. Marbles said, astounded.

"I know, that's why I took it."

"Maddie, where did he take you? What did he do?" Motherboard asked, finally examine the various bruises across the girl's body.

"The Spheres of Fear. He just hit me, once, that's all. I'm fine, I promise. Most of these are my fault. Really," she tried to convince them.

"What happened to your hand?"

"I may or may not have punched him in the face."

It was silent for a moment before both adults burst into laughter.

"Maddie, violence isn't the answer," Motherboard attempted to scold, though she was smiling.

"It was this time." Maddie yawned, nestling closer to her mother. "I'm sleepy."

"All right, let's get you cleaned up and then you can have a nap."

While she cleaned the girl's cuts and bandaged her scrapes, Dr. Marbles gave Cyberspace the news that Maddie had returned and Hacker had been defeated. He was concerned about what had happened in the Spheres of Fear, but he didn't want to push. Maddie would tell them when she was ready. Motherboard returned with a freshly bandaged Maddie and allowed her to settle in front of the large monitor. He looked at her questioningly.

"She asked me if she could, and I just...I need her nearby right now," she explained, and he nodded in understanding.

When they were sure Maddie was sleeping soundly, he transferred her back into the monitor. Both pretended to be oblivious when the girl worked her way back so that she was pressed against the console. They were glad she was back, but both couldn't help but wonder what the lasting effects would be. They weren't stupid, they had seen the change in the child's eyes, something had dimmed and faded. They just hoped she hadn't been severely scarred.

They would just have to wait and see.


	4. Lost My Marbles

Four more years passed without incident, and everyone hoped that Hacker was gone for good. Maddie was eleven now, and was much the same girl that had come through the portal. But the day she had defeated Hacker had left its marks. Her right hand, the one she had punched him with, bore scars where her knuckles had been split open, and she had a dark streak that sometimes reared its head. She was fiercely protective of her family, especially her mother, and it took a lot to scare her.

She had been extremely clingy to both parents after she'd returned, nightmares occurring frequently. She had yet to tell them of her experience in the Spheres of Fear, not particularly wanting to relive those moments. Luckily, her nightmares hardly reared their head now, and she was mostly able to put it behind her.

She had gotten tall over the past years, taller than her father and mother for sure. Her blonde hair was long and wavy, hanging down her back, though she mainly kept it in a ponytail. Her dark side was expressed in her clothing, a black tank top and jeans, paired with black sneakers. She was quite pretty, though that didn't matter to her. She was more focused on helping to keep her mother at her best, which was why she was under the console helping on yet another upgrade.

"Upgrade nearly complete, Motherboard," she heard her father call from his position under the other side of the console. She heard him close it up as he finished, and after she clipped her last wire, did the same. "Stand by for reboot."

"Hurry, Dr. Marbles," her mother called. "My firewall's been down long enough. It's not safe."

"Not safe? Come on, what could possibly happen?" Digit threw in, just before the alarm went off.

"Hacker alert! Hacker alert!" Motherboard called.

"Hacker's...BACK?!" Digit yelled, flapping his wings.

"Impossible, Maddie took his power pack and exiled him years ago!"

"It doesn't matter," the pre-teen threw in. "Mom's never been wrong before." She booted up a security camera, and sure enough the Grim Wreaker was bobbing in the distance. "There he is!"

A massive explosion rocked the site, sending Digit tumbling.

"Hacker's found a way to breech the system," her father called.

"Quickly, reload my firewall!" Motherboard ordered. Her father stood still, as if shocked. Maddie nudged him to get him to move. "Hacker has launched a virus. It's coming this way."

"Hurry, Doc, close her up!" Digit yelled.

He began typing furiously, trying to load the firewall.

"Forty-five, fifty," he read as it loaded.

Maddie knew they were too late when the screen started going fuzzy and shorting out.

"It's too late. The virus has invaded my circuits. It's...shutting me down."

Her mother's voice warped on the last sentence, the normally pink and blue rings that served as her background turning a sickly shade of green. She closed her eyes. Maddie felt her heart clench and her breath catch. This was exactly like the Spheres of Fear, except this was real.

"Firewall up!" Dr. Marbles yelled. "No further damage anticipated."

"She's in bad shape huh, Doc?" Digit asked.

Numb, Maddie could only listen as her father explained what had happened.

"Her Encryptor Chip has been destroyed!" he yelled, gripping the cybird's shoulders. I can't retrieve it! I've got to locate and install a new one!"

"Whatever you must do, do it now," her mother said, static filling her screen every few seconds.

Maddie had never heard her sound so weak, and slowly, she came out of her shock, anger beginning to boil in her veins.

"But I can't leave you!" her father protested.

Maddie knew her parents were really just friends, but she also knew her father would do anything for her mother, including protect her with his own life.

"Marbles, I order you, leave before...before..."

Motherboard didn't finish her sentence, her screen turning to static as she clonked out. She rarely ever explicitly gave orders, and when she did they were meant to be followed.

"Beat it, Doc. I'll take care of Motherboard," Digit promised.

He locked eyes with Maddie, and knew she'd keep her safe. He ran out to his cybercoop, entrusting her and her brother with her mother's life.

"It's okay, Dige. Dad'll find a new chip and Mom will be good as new."

What no one knew was that at that exact moment Hacker was kidnapping the doctor. He pressed the button for his tracker, hoping he would be rescued before anything drastic happened.

"Hacker's got Dr. Marbles!" Digit yelled as a red light began flashing.

Maddie rushed over and locked onto the coordinates, revealing where they were headed.

"I'm tracking him now," Motherboard responded, slower to lock on than the blonde would have liked.

"What're we gonna do?!" the cybird yelled, in a near panic.

"There are three earth children who unintentionally caused the system breach that allowed Hacker to infect me with the virus. They can help us rescue Dr. Marbles," Motherboard said, showing a live video of the kids.

* * *

"You think we broke it?" a young Latina girl asked.

"I dunno," a red headed boy replied.

"There's gotta be a way to reboot this thing!" the other girl, an African American, squealed.

Her mother began patching through to them, and Maddie watched with worry as her power levels skyrocketed dangerously.

"I am Motherboard," the supercomputer said once she had patched through to the kids.

"Uh-oh," Jackie, if her mother's research was correct, whispered.

"Mother-who?" Matt, the redhead, asked.

"We're in for it now! She's probably FBI!" Jackie panicked.

"I am protector of all Cyberspace," her mother said, trying to convince them.

"Right, and I'm Xena, warrior princess," Inez, the other girl, responded.

"When the three of you touched the map, a breach in Cyberspace allowed a nasty computer virus to reach me," Motherboard explained.

"This can't be happening!" Jackie wailed.

"It is happening, Jackie."

The girl gasped.

* * *

In the control room, Maddie was rushing around frantically trying to keep her mother from over heating and overloading her circuits. It wasn't easy, the virus had done more damage than anyone had anticipated. Her hands flew over the keyboard, stabilizing the connection and barely managing to keep the computer working.

"Mom, if you're going to bring them through do it now. I can't hold the connection any longer," she said, typing commands as quickly as she could.

* * *

"Y-you know my name?" Jackie asked in shock.

"Jackie, Matt, Inez, I need your help," Motherboard said, addressing each of them individually. "I need you here in Cyberspace. Now."

"But Cyberspace isn't a real place!" Inez protested. "We can't actually go!"

Her mother didn't respond, simply opened a portal before her energy was completely spent. Inez was sucked in first, the action startling both her and the other kids.

"Woah! She's gone!" Matt said.

"And so are we!" said Jackie as the portal sucked them in.

They screamed as they were sucked through computer code before crash landing in a strange room. Maddie sighed as they landed, relieved the portal had lasted long enough to safely transport them. Noticing the portal had yet to close, she began working on forcing it shut. The kids groaned, reorienting themselves after their rough landing.

"Where are we?" Inez asked.

"This is incredible," Matt said.

"Freaky," Jackie said, standing up.

"Hey," Matt called, catching sight of Maddie, "who're you?"

Digit chose that moment to fly over to them.

"Welcome to Cyberspace, earthlies. I'm Digit, and this is Motherboard," he said, pointing to the large monitor where, thankfully, Maddie had closed the portal.

"And I'm Maddie," she said, finally turning away from the console to face them.

"Hacker has captured my chief technician, Dr. Marbles," Motherboard said.

"Hacker? Who's Hacker?" Matt asked.

"He prefers The Hacker, but that's another story. Just know he's Motherboard's worst enemy," Digit said.

"Digit's right," Maddie said, coming closer. "Hacker is evil. He kidnapped me as a child because he thought that would make him gain control of Cyberspace."

"How would that give him control?" Matt asked.

Maddie sighed, unsure if she should tell them everything. She glanced at her mother and then her brother before taking a deep breath.

"Dr. Marbles is my dad." The kids gasped, and she held up a hand to quiet them before she was assaulted with questions. "Hacker kidnapped me because my dad trained me to maintenance Motherboard. I know every single weakness she has, and he hoped to force a way to shut her down out of me." She sighed again. "Which brings me to another important fact. Motherboard is my mom."

"What?!" the three chorused.

"So, are you a cyborg or something?" Inez asked.

"Do you have cool lasers?" Matt threw in.

"Woah, woah! No, I'm not a cyborg. I'm human like you."

"Then how are you here?" Inez asked.

"According to my father, a portal opened during a routine update and there I was. They couldn't ever find where I was from so they adopted me."

"That's insane," Jackie said.

"Maybe, but it's true. I can't remember anything from your world. I grew up here, surrounded by amazing things. Isn't that right Dige?"

"Yup, I was there the day she came through," he said proudly.

"Brothers," Maddie said, rolling her eyes.

Motherboard's screen crackled with static, and all turned to her.

"My strength is limited. Find Marbles. Bring him back," the supercomputer said.

"The doc's the only one who can fix Motherboard!" Digit threw in. Maddie glared at him. "W-well, besides Maddie that is. But even she can't without the chip!"

"This sounds totally terrible!" Jackie said.

"Without Motherboard, everything and everyone in Cyberspace is doomed!" Digit yelled.

"You guys, we can't let that happen! We can't just stand by and let this Hacker guy destroy Cyberspace! We have to help! We just have to!" Jackie yelled.

"Excuse me! I don't even know you guys! This is a major decision. I need time to think about it," Inez protested.

"There isn't time to think about it! We've gotta act now! I'm in," Matt said.

"Marbles has been taken to an island in the Southern Frontier," Motherboard said, printing a map. "The X on this map of the island marks the location where Hacker has hidden him."

Three skwakpads floated down and solidified.

"Woah! Cool! What are these?" the kids asked.

"Skwakpads," Motherboard replied. "Walkie talkies and drawing boards rolled into one."

"And how do we get to this island?" Inez asked.

A pink portal appeared in front of them.

"One transportal at your service," Digit said.

"Beats takin' the bus," Jackie mumbled.

"Be careful," Motherboard warned. "And remember; all of Cyberspace is counting on you."

"Game time!" Matt yelled, leading them into the portal.

"You too, Digit," Motherboard said.

He flew into the portal after them, causing it to close. Maddie looked up at her mother. The screen had once again taken on a green hue, static filling it every few seconds. The woman inside was exhausted, the minimal amount of power expended draining her.

"Mom? Are you okay?"

"Just tired, sweetheart," the supercomputer answered.

An alarm went off, alerting the two to the kids' landing. Maddie pulled a map of the island, revealing three pulsing red dots.

"Trackers in the skwaks?"

"Yes."

"Smart," Maddie said with a grin. "You did remember to tell them the island turns inside out at sunset right? Mom? You did tell them?"

"I knew I was forgetting something."

"Mom, you have to warn them. They're not used to Cyberspace, thy could be killed!"

"I'm calling them now."

A small video screen popped up in the corner of her monitor, allowing Maddie to see what was going on.

"Is everyone all right?"

"Barely," Matt answered, glancing back at a fallen tree.

"I forgot. Every sunset there's a huge earthquake."

"Earthquake?" Inez echoed.

"By nightfall, the island, and everything on it will turn completely inside out."

She cut out, losing her signal, but not before Maddie cued a video of the island at sunset. The video screen crashed, as did the main monitor.

"No, no, come on," Maddie mumbled as she worked to reboot the computer. "Yes!" she cheered as the monitor blinked back on.

Her mother didn't reappear, but it didn't worry her too much, since her mother wasn't always present even in top working order. She cued the map of the island, watching as the little red dots moved steadily along. Her eyes glanced at the clock, panic slowly beginning to creep up on her as the minutes ticked by. She truly got worried when the group split up and soon got lost. She quickly set up a video chat as it became apparent the kids were completely stuck.

"Look at your map!" she called into the mic. "Make it into a grid. Put numbers down the left side and letters across the bottom!"

"That's perfect! Now we know where we are! Thanks!" Inez called.

Maddie cut the video then, hopeful that they'd make it in time. She didn't know Hacker knew about the kids and had sent Buzz and Delete to dispose of them. Alarms began blaring as the bridge was cut, the kids and Digit falling into the chasm. She cued a video to see what was going on.

Matt, Jackie, and Inez were dangling from what was left of the bridge, screaming.

"Hang on! I'm comin!" Digit yelled, flying down with a vine gripped in his beak.

The kids grabbed on and swung to safety, much to Maddie's relief. Unfortunately, they had to climb to the top of the chasm, which took up valuable time. Rather than cut the video, she kept it on in case they got into more trouble.

"Help! Someone help me!" she heard her father call over the video.

"Daddy," she whispered.

"It's the Doc!" Digit said.

They ran over to where the sound was coming from, nearly falling into the pit he was being held in.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"They're with me, doc," Digit said as he flew down. "Motherboard brought 'em in from the real world."

"What about Hacker?"

"You mean that pompous piece of cybertrash? That green-faced bag of wind?" Digit ranted, neither noticing the shadow slowly covering them.

"Why Digit, I didn't know you still cared," a voice said from above them.

"Hacker! I was just reminding everyone how brilliant and powerful you are!" he said, clearly terrified.

 ** _..._**

Maddie couldn't help but growl quietly at the sound of his voice.

 ** _..._**

He laughed, and one of his henchmen trapped the kids in his arms.

"Listen closely," Hacker said, approaching them. "I alone decide who comes," he smiled creepily, "and who goes."

"You're the man, boss! Yeah you're the one!" his robots cheered.

"In your case, however, you're about to be permanently," he paused, "deleted."

He began laughing, pleased with himself. Suddenly he began coughing, his power pack flashing.

"Boss, we better get you back to the Wreaker. You need a power-up quick!" the shorter of the two robots said.

An earthquake erupted after his words, triggering a rockslide.

 ** _..._**

Maddie gasped, hoping and praying that the kids would be okay.

 ** _..._**

Everyone screamed, darting out of the way of the rocks, which filled the hole where Dr. Marbles and Digit were, carrying Hacker and his henchmen with them.

 ** _..._**

"No, Daddy!" she wailed, nearly in tears until she noticed a flash of purple hanging from a tree. She smiled, once again amazed at her brother. "Way to go, Dige."

 ** _..._**

"Oh no! They're all buried! Motherboard was counting on us to save Dr. Marbles!" Jackie wailed. "Instead we-"

"Hey, hey, calm down, we're cool," Digit's voice came from somewhere above them.

They looked up to see him dangling from a tree, Dr. Marbles holding his propeller.

"Digit!" they cheered as the two jumped down.

"We must exit this program before the island completely reformats," Dr. Marbles said.

They ran away, no one noticing the hand that shoved through the rocks.

 ** _..._**

"Shit," Maddie murmured when she saw Hacker's hand. "Is it ever going to end?"

 ** _..._**

"We'll never get out of here in time!" Matt yelled.

"Look! It's the Grim Wreaker!" Digit said, flying over to it. "In here, quick!"

Once inside, Dr. Marbles attempted to start up the ship, only for a sound of denial to echo through the cockpit.

"Hacker's got it on safeguard! Ignition impossible!"

"There's gotta be a way off this island!" Matt yelled.

"There it is, the doc's cybercoop," Digit said, flipping a switch and turning on some lights.

 ** _..._**

"It only seats one!" Maddie hissed, gripping the edge of the console.

 ** _..._**

"All right! Awesome! Woah!" the kids chorused in delight.

"But there's only room for one," the doctor pointed out.

"You're the only one who can fix Motherboard. You have to go!" Inez said.

"Beat it, Doc. I'll stay here with the kids," Digit said.

Dr. Marbles climbed into his coop, starting it and taking off quickly.

* * *

Once he was safely in the air, Maddie spun around and furiously began trying to bring her mother back to the monitor. After a few failed restarts and sequence commands, her mother's familiar background of pink and blue rings took up the screen. Her mother soon followed, confused and disoriented from being asleep so long.

"Mom, Mom, they did it. They rescued Daddy," Maddie said happily.

"That's wonderful. I knew they could."

"On problem though. The Wreaker's on lockdown so they have no way off the island."

"I'll try to send them a portal." The transportal generator kicked on, but the coordinate system couldn't lock on. "I can't get a lock on their location because of the quakes. I'll have to send three portals randomly," Motherboard said.

"Do you want me to patch you through?"

"Please."

* * *

"Can you hear me? Respond," a feminine voice said from nowhere.

Jackie pulled out her skwakpad.

"We're here, Motherboard."

"Because of the quakes, I cannot place a portal at your current location. I have been able to program three escape portals on the island at random. One is at H-7," Motherboard said.

"Past Jagged Cliffs, got it," Inez said.

"Another at D-3."

"The Palm Jungle!" Matt said.

"And the last portal is at A-3."

"Square Bay. Got it, Motherboard," Jackie said confidently.

"You must choose now, there's not much time. Good luck," the woman said, ending the message.

 ** _..._**

"Do you think they'll make it?" Maddie asked.

"They have to," her mother replied.

 ** _..._**

"Okay, we have to decide which way to go. Let's mark our position with a red dot," Matt suggested, creating a red X on the map. "Past Jagged Cliffs at H-7 is the closest. Look it's only one, two, three, four squares away."

"Wait," Inez interjected. "It may be the shortest distance, but it's the steepest path. We'd have to climb these mountains!"

"So how about Palm Forest at D-3?" Jackie suggested. "That doesn't look much farther."

"Don't forget that chasm we just fell into. The bridge is out, remember?" Matt pointed out.

"Let's go for the portal at Square Bay," Inez said, pointing out their only option.

"Are you kidding me?" Jackie asked. "A-3 is the furthest away. We have to cross six squares to get there."

"Trust me and the map on this one. Let's go!"

 ** _..._**

"If they shoot the rapids they might make it in time," Maddie said as she watched them run through the jungle.

"That's the only way to make it in time," Motherboard said.

 ** _..._**

They made good time until they reached the river.

"Oh no! We'll never reach the portal before sunset now!" Jackie wailed.

"We will if we shoot these Rapids to the bay," Inez said calmly. "The river leads right to A-3."

"But how?" Matt asked.

Unbeknownst to them, Digit had lashed together two large logs. He cleared his throat.

"Raft anyone?"

 ** _..._**

"Good thing Inez knows what to do," Maddie mumbled.

 ** _..._**

They got it into the water and began riding the Rapids. For a while, it looked like they were going to make it. That is, until a large shadow covered them. Looking back, they saw the Grim Wreaker with a giant claw poised to catchup them.

"It's Hacker!" Digit yelled in panic.

 ** _..._**

"Crap! How is he already recharged?!" Maddie yelped.

 ** _..._**

"I may have lost my Marbles, but I'll get those blasted brats!" Hacker swore to Buzz and Delete. "Motherboard will pay dearly to get them back."

Digit and the kids screamed as he began snapping the claw at them, nearly catching them.

"Oh no, whirlpool!" Matt said, pointing at a swirling pink circle.

"Hey, that's no whirlpool," Inez said, recognizing it.

"It's the portal!" they chorused together, realization dawning.

Hacker screamed in rage as they disappeared, immediately blaming his failure on his henchmen. He was so caught up in his rant that he didn't notice the sunset until it was too late.

* * *

"They're safe. They just landed on earth," Maddie said, spinning in her chair as Digit landed on the floor of Control Central.

"Patch me through to 'em. They probably don't believe what happened," Digit said, dusting himself off.

* * *

"Wow, that was incredible!" Matt said.

"And look, hardly any time passed!" Jackie pointed out.

"So how do we know it really happened?" Inez asked.

"Trust us on this one, Inez," Digit said, appearing on the electronic map that was the start of all the trouble.

"And...you...are...clear," Maddie told her mother, punching in the last security override.

"Yikes! Then it wasn't a dream!" Matt yelped.

"No, and Hacker's still out there," Motherboard said, appearing behind Digit.

"And the doc is still looking for a way to fix Motherboard," Digit told them.

"We'll help you any way we can, right guys?" Matt said.

"No problem," Inez said.

"I was hoping you'd say that," Motherboard said, giving them a smile.

"Stay tuned, earthlies. You'll be hearing from us," Digit said before they both blinked out.

* * *

"Now what, Mom?"

"Now we wait. Hacker will be back, and when he comes we'll need their help again."

"I hope Daddy finds the Encryptor Chip soon. Then we'll get rid of Hacker once and for all."

"I hope so too, sweetheart. I hope so, too."


	5. Castleblanca

"Mark your homepage, Motherboard. I've got a line on the Encryptor Chip," Marbles said.

"Then, you'll be able to eliminate the virus Hacker gave me?" she asked.

"You can be your bodrate on it, Motherboard." A large shadow fell over him. "Uh-oh! Backspace!"

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"It's Hacker!"

He sped up, and Hacker did the same.

 ** _..._**

"Woah! Slow down!" Buzz and Delete yelled.

"Not until I get my hands on Dr. Marbles!"

Metal arms extended from the Wreaker as he got closer to the small cybercoop.

 ** _..._**

"I can't shake him, Motherboard," Marbles said.

"What are you going to do?"

"A site-warp. It's my only chance."

"Be careful."

He warped once, twice, but still couldn't get rid of Hacker.

 ** _..._**

"Happy hologram, Dr. Marbles," Hacker said, projecting a picture of the Grim Wreaker in front of him.

 ** _..._**

Confused and shocked, he pulled the coop to a stop, allowing Hacker to capture him.

* * *

"I'll be back later, Mom!" Maddie called, pocketing the keys to the cybercoop. "Tell Dad I said hi."

She was going trick-or-treating on various cyber sites before heading to the Harvest Moon Ball in Castleblanca. She was dressed as a cat, all in black complete with ears and a tail.

"Be careful," Motherboard called back, pausing her conversation with Dr. Marbles.

"I will. So Dige, how do I look?"

She meowed and pretended to claw the air.

"Ferocious. I'm so scared," he teased, sending the two into a laughing fit.

"I'll be back sometime tonight after the Ball," she said, calming down.

"Have fun. Bring me back some candy, would ya?"

"Sure thing."

She had just reached the doors when a red light began flashing. She turned, all traces of amusement gone.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked her brother.

"The doc's tracker? Yeah," Digit groaned.

"What's going on, Mom?"

"Hacker found Marbles. Cite-warp failed and he was captured. Looks like they're heading to Castleblanca."

"That's it. Hacker has gone too far. First he infects you with a deadly virus and now he's kidnapped Daddy. Send the earthlies if you want, Mom, but I'm handling this one."

"I don't think that's such a good idea," Motherboard said, involuntarily remembering the last time Maddie had been anywhere near Hacker.

"Mom, I have to. I may not be able to stop him, but I'll make him regret the day he was booted up."

"All right, just please be careful."

"Always. Besides, I'll have Digit with me, right?"

"Of course."

"Then don't worry. Send us out," Maddie said, shedding her mask.

* * *

"Good evening," Matt said in a fake Transylvanian accent as he entered Jackie's bedroom.

"Hey, Matt," Inez said, letting him pass.

"Hey! How come you guys don't have your costumes on yet?"

"Jackie's on information overload," Inez sighed.

"Last year, I wrote down which homes gave me what candy so this year I can go right to the streets that give me the most chocolate," Jackie said.

"Boy, a regular chocolate monster," Matt joked.

"But I'm totally disorganized! Ugh!" Jackie groaned.

"Emergency! Emergency!" Motherboard said, patching through on the computer.

"Motherboard! What's wrong? What's happening?"

"Need help. Got to get to Castleblanca."

"Castle what?" Inez asked.

"Collect yourselves, cybermates. You're coming in," Motherboard said, generating a portal.

They landed in their usual heap, having to pick themselves up and dust off.

"Excuse me, is this Castleblanca?" Matt asked after they landed.

"Who wants to know?" a cyclops growled.

"Yow!" He walked back over to the girls. "Did you see that guy?"

"Hey!" a voice yelled. "I got three tickets with your name on 'em for tonight's Harvest Moon Ball. That's ball, as in fun, fun, fun! So, you wanna go?"

"Uh, I don't think so," Inez said. "We're looking for Castle Blanca."

"Well stop looking, you're here. Last chance. You want these tickets or not?" the goblin asked.

"Not!" Jackie said.

"Ah you'll be sorry!"

"This is either the world's largest costume party or we're in serious trouble," Matt said as he looked around at the various creatures.

"Somehow, I don't think we're gonna get any candy in this neighborhood," Jackie said.

"Over here!" a familiar voice called.

"Mother B!" Jackie said, walking over to the lunchbox she had appeared in.

"Hacker is here. He has Dr. Marbles."

"Where?" Inez asked.

"In castle. He's in the castle. You must find him by midnight. Make sure it's by the light of the full moon."

"But where is he, Motherboard? Which castle?" Matt asked, desperately trying to get a clearer clue.

"Castle! He's in the castle!" Motherboard said, static interrupting her as usual.

Their conversation was cut off when the owner of the lunchbox shut the lid.

"But there's so many of them," Jackie said, looking around at the castles that seemed to be on every street corner. "Where do we go first?"

A portal opened above them, spitting out Digit and Maddie.

"Badda-bing, badda-boom!" Digit yelled as they fell.

He fell into the chimney of a building while Maddie managed to flip in mid-air and land on the ground.

"Maddie? What are you doing here?" Matt asked as she dusted herself off.

"Let's just say I have a special message for a certain cyborg. Besides, I can't let you guys have all the fun, can I?"

"I guess not. Come on, let's find Dige."

They raced into the building to find him.

"Nice costume, by the way," Inez said as they ran.

"Thanks. I'm supposed to be a cat, but right now I look more like a burglar!" the blonde joked.

"It's one o'clock! Eleven hours before the big midnight of the full moon!" the jack-o-lantern clock chimed.

They found Digit climbing out of a fireplace, beak bent.

"Dige, you all right?" Inez asked.

"I hate when this happens," he said, straightening it out.

"Guys, we don't have much time. Motherboard said we have to find Hacker's castle before midnight of the full moon, and that's tonight!" Jackie said.

"Jacks, you saw how many castles are out there. We can't check every one it'll take forever!" Matt protested.

"So how're we gonna find Hacker?" Inez asked. "We need information on where his castle is."

They all turned to look at Maddie.

"Sorry guys," she apologized. "I know just as much as you do for once. My mom clonked out before she could give me any specifics as to where Hacker is keeping my dad."

"Somebody who lives here must have seen him," Jackie said.

"Mean, tall guy with a cape? How could you miss him?" Digit asked.

"Dige is right, you couldn't! How 'bout a survey?" Jackie suggested. "We'll ask people in town if they've seen him and where."

"Great idea! We'll describe Hacker to as many people as we can and keep track of their answers!" Matt said.

"A survey? Uh, it could work, but we'll need some way to record our results," Inez said.

"Get your Castleblanca maps, pins, t-shirts, sweater vests, and tablecloths. Get 'em here, and get 'em now!" a werewolf howled outside.

"How about some maps, guys?" Maddie asked, grinning.

"Perfect, come on!" Matt said.

"Go on, Inez, over there," Maddie urged.

"Ex-excuse me, hi. C-can we have a few of those maps?" Inez asked nervously. "Thanks."

"Thank you," Jackie said, taking one. "Let's split up so we can ask more people."

Matt and Inez went one way, Jackie and Maddie the other while Digit studied the map. Realizing he wasn't following, Jackie reached back and pulled him along.

"So where do we start?" Jackie asked.

"I dunno, I guess we should just find somebody that looks approachable and start with them," Maddie said.

* * *

"Sometimes the depth of my evil genius astounds even me," Hacker gloated to Dr. Marbles, who was strapped to a table. "And, with the amazing Gigabyte by my side I'll be unstoppable and Cyberspace will be mine!"

"Message error, message error!" Marbles spat, anger evident in his words.

"Silence!" Hacker snapped. "Come midnight, you'll think quite differently. When I transfer your brainpower into Gigabyte's circuitry it will only be a matter of time before I destroy Motherboard once and for all!"

"No matter how you downgrade me, Hacker, you'll never defeat Motherboard!"

"Ha!" Hacker crossed over to the monster, gleefully looking over his creation. "Screwdriver." Buzz and Delete stared at the array of tools. "That, you senseless circuit breakers!"

"Screwdriver," Delete mimicked, dropping the pliers he'd been holding.

"Screwdriver, right Boss," Buzz said.

Hacker snatched it out of his hand, tightening a screw on Gigabyte and causing an eyeball to pop out. He shoved it back in impatiently, only for the other to pop out and knock him backwards.

* * *

"Okay, so where do we start?" Inez asked.

"Hmm," Matt said, looking around. "Over there!" He pointed to two mummies eating lunch.

"Good enough I guess," Inez said.

"Sorry to interrupt," Matt said, running up to the mummies, "but have you seen a tall creepy guy in a cape?"

"Creepy?" one mummy asked.

"Um, okay, forget creepy. Just tall with a cape," Matt said.

Inez took the map from him.

"There," the mummy said, pointing to a place on the map.

Inez marked it.

 ** _..._**

"Excuse me, sir," Jackie said, running up to a man fishing off the side of a bridge. "Have you seen a large, kinda ugly person with a purple cloak anywhere around here?"

"Uh, large, ugly, purple cloak. Oh yeah that. Saw him two nights ago right here," he said, pointing out a spot.

Digit marked it. Just then the man got a bite and began to reel in the fish, only to be yanked into the river by a quant squid creature.

"Yikes!" Digit yelled, more than glad to run away with Maddie and Jackie.

Each group continued to ask around, most of the time getting results and marking them down. Jackie, Maddie, and Digit seemed to be the more successful of the two, having many more dots than Inez and Matt.

"Thank you," Jackie said to the last monster as it walked away.

"Boy, this place is weird," Matt said as he and Inez walked over.

"Here's our results," Inez said, handing over their map.

"Now let's get organized," Jackie replied, comparing the two.

They headed back to the small building where Digit had crash landed when he and Maddie had first arrived. They laid out the maps on a table, pulling their skwaks out to tally the information.

"Okay, out of the fifty-two creatures we asked, twenty-seven said they saw someone who fit Hacker's description," Jackie said.

"And twenty-five didn't," Inez added.

"But some of those who said they saw him were confused about where they saw him," Matt recalled.

"And don't forget that guy with thorns on his nose. I still don't know what he said," Digit threw in.

"Okay look," Jackie said, reclaiming the group's attention. "I think we have enough answers so that even if there are some mistakes we should still find out what we need to know. Let's check the maps."

"Wow, looks like those who saw Hacker saw him all over the place!" Matt said, referring to the scattered dots across the site.

"Look closer at the data. Maybe there's a pattern. Yeah look, there's a cluster of sightings right here," Maddie said, circling it. "Within a block or two of Slime Street and Ooze Avenue."

"And there's a bunch in the same place on this map," Digit said, pointing it out so Jackie could circle it.

"Slime and Ooze!" she said excitedly.

"Two maps, same cluster, same location," Matt said. "Gotta be Hacker."

"Let's go!" Inez said.

They grabbed their stuff and ran out, very aware of their race against the clock.

* * *

It was dark by the time they reached their destination, the moon already on the rise.

"Hurry, the full moon's rising!" Jackie yelled.

They ran toward the castle, hoping they were right.

"Duck!" Matt yelled as bats flew from the castle in a swarm.

"Since when is Hacker into bats?" Inez asked.

"It's open!" Jackie said, trying the door.

"I'll wait here!" Digit said, but Matt pushed him inside regardless.

"Hello?" he called as they entered.

"Look!" Inez said, pointing to a figure on the balcony outlined with moonlight. "A tall man in a cape."

"A-ha! Hacker," Jackie said.

"Are you sure?" Maddie asked, squinting at him. "He kinda looks more like-"

"Good evening," the man said in a thick Transylvanian accent. "Welcome to my castle!"

He threw his cape aside, revealing that he was Dracula, not Hacker.

"That's not Hacker, it's Dracula!" Inez said.

They all screamed as he swooped down.

"You're just in time for dinner," Dracula said.

He leaned toward them, but they were already in motion.

"Run for it!" Matt yelled.

His command was unnecessary, as all five were already running, Dracula laughing in the background. They ran straight back into town, back to the building where the Harvest Moon Ball was being held.

"Eight o'clock! Midnight in just four more hours!" the pumpkin clock chimed.

* * *

"Higher! Higher!" Hacker yelled as a giant mirror was hoisted into the air. "Careful! The second mirror must be set at precisely the right angle to reflect all the power of the moon's rays."

"Pull!" Buzz snapped at Delete.

"Uh, I'm pulling!" Delete grunted back.

"As usual your plan will never work," Dr. Marbles called from his restraints.

"Au contraire. At midnight, when the full moon is overhead Gigabyte will be born," Hacker gloated. "And, in case you haven't noticed, you're in no position to tell me if my plan will work or not work," Hacker laughed.

Delete, distracted by a fly that had been buzzing around his head, let go of the rope. It fell, shattering. Hacker stopped laughing, a look of annoyance plastered across his face.

"I'll just pretend I didn't hear that," he said.

"Sorry, Boss!" Buzz said.

"Yeah, sorry," Delete mimicked.

"We'll fix it!" the shorter bot promised.

"Yeah, don't worry, we'll fix it!" Delete blubbered as Hacker stormed past.

"Boss?" Buzz asked as Hacker stepped outside.

An incredibly loud scream of rage was heard seconds later.

* * *

"So how come our survey found Dracula instead of Hacker?" Jackie asked as they all paced in a circle.

"Got me," Matt said.

"I'm stumped," Inez threw in.

"Maybe we got lousy information," Digit muttered before bumping into someone. "Whoops! Sorry." The man glared before walking away with a friend. "That's it!" the cybird said as he watched them. "Oh earthlies."

"Not now, Dige. We're trying to figure out what went wrong with our survey," Jackie said.

"Look over there!" the small bird said, pointing to the two men.

"Hey, those two sort of look like how we described Hacker," Inez said. "Mean and tall with a cape."

"I uh, I think I said cloak instead of cape and I know I said ugly instead of mean, but come on, Hacker is ugly," Digit said.

"Well you weren't the only one, Dige," Jackie assured him. "I did say large once or twice instead of tall."

"I know I said creepy once but I took it back," Matt said.

"That's our problem!" Maddie said. "Because we asked different questions, we found different people!"

"And we found Dracula because he looked the most like all the things we said!" the red head pointed out.

"We need to be more specific. We need to describe Hacker in more detail and ask exactly the same questions."

"You mean we have to do our survey all over again?" Digit asked.

"If we expect to find Hacker we do," Matt pointed out.

"Look, his skin is green, right?" Jackie said.

"And he's got a big, pointy chin," Inez threw in.

"Bingo. We ask who's seen a tall guy with a cape, green skin and a pointy chin. That oughta narrow it down. Let's do it!" Matt said.

"Only one problem. How are we gonna find everyone at night?" Inez asked.

"Tickets! Get your Harvest Moon Ball!" the same goblin from that afternoon cried, gaining their attention. "Everyone in Castleblanca's gonna be here!"

"That's it! We can collect our data right here! You heard what he said. Everyone's going to be at the Ball!" Maddie exclaimed.

"Hey mister, how about some tickets?" Matt yelled, approaching him.

They hung around until the Ball started, pleased to see all the monsters they had talked to and more show up.

"Frank, have you seen a tall green man with a cape and a pointy chin anywhere around town?" Jackie asked Frankenstein's monster.

He thought about it, obviously remembering something.

"Where?" Matt asked.

He pointed out a spot and they marked it.

"Thanks!"

"Tall green man with a cape and a pointy chin? Huh, never saw him," said Sams, the two-headed piano player.

"Well I did," said the second head.

"No you didn't."

"I did, too!"

"No you didn't!"

"Where did you see him?" Inez asked, desperate to break up the argument.

"On the corner of Grizzly and Murky," the second head replied.

"When we're we ever at Grizzly and Murky?" the first head asked.

"Yesterday."

"Where was I?"

"Uh, thanks guys," Inez said, marking the spot.

They continued to ask around, feeling more confident now that they wee asking the same question. They came up with fewer sightings, but the maps were far more similar than before.

"Our sightings are all over the map," Inez said as they compared the two.

"Ours too!" Matt said.

"And no clusters!" Maddie said.

"But we asked the same questions this time, what's up?" Inez wondered aloud.

"Maybe Hacker's not even here," Digit said.

"Time out. We can compare the data and maybe then we'll get a better idea of where Hacker was sighted," Matt suggested. "It's all the same kind of data."

They laid the maps out side by side, moving the dots from one map to the other to make a master map.

"What've we got?" Matt asked when they were done.

"Look at all these sightings bunched together. Five of them right here," Jackie said, circling the cluster.

"But that looks like a swamp or something. We're looking for a castle, remember?" Inez said.

"Maybe we just thought we were looking for a castle," Jackie said. "We've gotta go with the information that's here."

"Okay, let's go for it," they all said, high fiving.

They ran to the swamp, at first thinking Inez was right and that's all there was. But as they ventured further in, they saw the peak of castle jutting above the trees. They headed toward it, more confident in their choice.

"It's the Grim Wreaker," Inez said as they crouched behind some bushes.

"I'm gonna take a closer look," Digit said, flying over to the castle.

"You were right, Jackie. The answer to our question was hidden inside the data," Inez said as Digit flew away.

"The cluster of data nailed him. Let's go!" Matt said.

They stopped short as Buzz and Delete emerged from the Wreaker.

"You sure this one'll work, Buzz?" Delete asked as he and the shorter robot carried the repaired mirror down the Wreaker's ramp.

"Don't worry, we'll be ready by midnight," Buzz answered.

"I think Buzz and Delete are heading inside Hacker's castle," Inez said.

"Come on! Maybe we can sneak inside behind them," Jackie said.

"Let's follow 'em," Matt agreed.

Inside, Buzz and Delete were hoisting the taped mirror back into place. Digit poked his beak over the hole the two were standing beneath.

"Perfect. The Boss'll be so happy," Buzz said as he and Delete tied off the rope.

"You don't truly believe this ridiculous scheme is going to work, do you?" Marbles asked the two bots.

"You mean, do I believe The Hacker can actually transfer your brainpower into Gigabyte's circuitry? Gee, I dunno," Buzz answered.

"Oh no! I gotta tell the others!" Digit yelled, flying away at top speed. He crashed in front of the kids, denting his beak. "You won't believe it! They've got the doc hooked to this giant monster Gigabyte and The Hacker's gonna use the moon's power to transfer the doc's brain into the monster!" Digit spouted in one breath.

"Hacker's going to what?!" Inez asked.

"Use Marbles' brains to make a monster!"

"No!"

"It's true."

"Quick, before Hacker gets back let's storm the castle!" Matt said.

"Halt!" a gravelly voice yelled.

"Who said that?"

"I did. You got a problem with that?" a small gnome asked, grinning.

"Who are you?" Inez asked.

"I'm in charge of the castle grounds. Nobody passes without my permission."

"Listen, you have to let us by. We have to stop a power hungry reject who's been wrecking cybersites everywhere," Inez tried to reason.

"And who might that be?" the gnome asked.

"His name's Hacker, and he's about to create Gigabyte inside your castle," Jackie said. "A monster he'll use to help take over all of Cyberspace!"

"And how do you know this Hacker is in my castle?"

"It's a long story," Inez said.

"Make it short, I like short."

"We don't have time for this!" Maddie said, easily jumping over the gnome. "I'll meet you guys inside eventually."

She ran into the castle, ignoring the shouts of the angry gnome. Gathering her bearings, she crept into the basement area, unsurprised to see her father strapped to a table and Buzz and Delete quietly bickering in a corner. She slipped in unnoticed, slinking over to the table her father was strapped to. She held a finger to her lips, signaling him to be quiet. He nodded to show he understood.

She began to loosen the straps holding him in place, working quickly so that they could get out of there. Marbles watched her work, surprised to see her but glad she had come.

"How did you convince your mother to let you come?" he asked in a whisper.

"I told her I had to, because I was sick of Hacker. And don't take this the wrong way, but she couldn't really stop me, especially since her virus weakened her," Maddie whispered back, yanking off one of the straps on his arm.

"Look out!" Marbles hissed as he saw one of the mirrors snap free of its rope.

Maddie ducked behind his table, knowing Buzz and Delete would come to investigate.

"What was that, Buzzy?" Delete asked.

"I think it was the other mirror," Buzz gulped.

They wandered over to where the mirrors hung, completely missing Maddie.

"So much for the second mirror," Buzz said, staring at the pile of broken glass.

"What're we gonna do now, Buzzy? It's almost midnight! What're we gonna do?!" Delete asked, panicking.

"Maybe the Boss won't notice," the shorter robot said, handing his friend a broom. "Let's get this stuff outta here."

"You two are pathetic!" Marbles said. "If Hacker is successful in bringing Gigabyte to life he'll dump you both in the recycle bin!"

"Is that true, Buzz? Would the Boss do that?" Delete asked. "Would he?"

"Well uh, ya know the Hacker does have a mean streak."

"You're right. How many times has he said to me 'You nickel-plated twit! You distasteful duncebucket!'"

They continued their conversation, once again not noticing Maddie as crept out and continued her work. She had just managed to get the second strap off when she felt metallic arms wrap around her. Against her will, her mind flashed back to when she was younger. She froze for a split second before stomping on Delete's foot as hard as she could. He yelped and let go, though she knew it was more than likely shock rather than pain that made him do so.

She spun around as soon as she was free, sending a roundhouse into his head, knocking him into Buzz. They fell over, nearly out of it, and she kicked their heads together to make sure they were knocked out.

"Where did you learn that?" Marbles asked, astounded.

"CyberTube," she responded with a shrug. She went back to fiddling with the restraints. "I wish I had my laser," she muttered.

"Laser? I've only been gone a month, what have you been doing?"

"Oh, a little here, a little there. Maintenance of course, upping security, and when I get some down time I invent little gadgets."

"Such as?"

"Well," Maddie grunted, freeing another strap, "my laser for one. It's hidden in a small bracelet but has the fire power of a full size gun. Right now I'm working on a portable portal generator. Works just like Mom's, also compact and hidden in a watch." She hissed as the last buckle cut her. "Where are those guys? Surely they've talked the gnome into letting them in by now."

A door creaked open, Digit and the kids entering.

"About time!" Maddie yelled, not looking up.

Buzz and Delete began to come to.

"Did you knock them out?" Matt asked, impressed.

"Yeah, why? They tried to stop me."

"Violence is not the answer," Inez recited.

"It is when you're trapped with no way out," Maddie said gravely.

"Woah, let's get outta here!" Buzz said as they woke up, stumbling away.

"They're getting away!" Jackie yelled, taking a step after them.

"Let them, we've got to get this last strap undone!" Maddie said.

They came over to help.

"Woah, this guy is awesome," Matt said as he passed Gigabyte.

Somewhere a clock began to chime.

"Hurry, it's midnight!" Jackie yelled as they began fiddling with the last restraint.

"You dare impede greatness?" Hacker asked as he entered the room.

Maddie froze as she heard his voice, feeling her blood begin to boil. All her anger from the day her mother was infected rushed back, multiplying from being ignored for so long.

"Hello, Hacker," she growled, turning to face him. "Remember me?"

He paled as he laid eyes on the girl who'd nearly killed him.

"You! What are you doing here, brat?!"

"Helping my father!"

She lunged at him, going straight for his power pack as she had done once before. But Hacker knew what she was after and side stepped, sending Maddie crashing into the wall. She gasped, the impact knocking the breath out of her.

"Little girls should learn their place!" he snapped, going to the lever.

"Maddie!" the kids cried, running toward her.

"I'm okay," she wheezed, "stop Hacker."

"Outta my way, children." He laughed as he threw the switch that would switch Marbles' brains to the monster. "Let there be life"

He threw the lever, not noticing that Dr. Marbles was nearly free and that he was missing a mirror. Maddie pushed herself up, not about to let a fall finish her. The moonlight hit the single mirror, but didn't bounce to the tables as it should have.

"My mirror! Where's my other mirror?!" Hacker asked as he noticed the second one was missing.

Buzz and Delete, who had crept back in to watch, cringed. He frantically pushed the lever back and forth, doing nothing but causing the remaining mirror to swing on its rope. The moonlight hit it, bouncing off the walls and surprisingly hitting Gigabyte on the head. It's energy flowed through the wire connecting him and Marbles, throwing the kids backwards.

"Give my creation life!" Hacker yelled, crossing over to them.

Marbles struggled to free himself from his last restraint, but the electricity quickly rendered him immobile. The wire connecting him to the monster unplugged from itself, causing the power flow to ebb.

"I'll get it, Boss!" Delete yelled, plugging the two ends back together.

He was shocked as he did so, fainting. Gigabyte's eyes opened.

"Yes!" Hacker cheered.

"No!" the kids screamed.

"Yes!" The creature climbed off its table, and Hacker went over to it. "Speak to me, Gigabyte. Speak!"

"You nickel-plated twit. You distasteful duncebucket!" Gigabyte said in Delete's voice.

"It can't be! It can't be!" Hacker wailed, throwing himself on the floor and kicking.

"Gigabyte got Delete's brain instead of Dr. Marbles'," Inez said, standing up.

"Grab the doc!" Digit yelled.

They freed him quickly and began to run.

"Stop!" Hacker yelled.

"Go, I'll take care of Hacker!" Maddie yelled, finally recovered from her bout with the wall.

"This way!" Matt yelled, leading them up the staircase.

"Stop them! We need Marbles to repeat the experiment while the moon's still full! Come, Gigabyte!" Hacker ordered.

Buzz and Delete didn't make it out of the room. Grabbing a spare piece of pipe, Maddie threw it at them, successfully knocking them out once again.

"No!" Hacker screamed in rage. "Gigabyte, stop her!"

He nearly cried as the monster smashed into nearly everything in an attempt to obey the command.

"Nice try, Hacker!" Maddie said, landing a solid kick to the monster's middle and sending him sprawling across the floor. She regained her balance, glaring at the larger cyborg. "Your turn."

She advanced, backing him into a wall.

"What are you going to do, you meddling urchin? Take my power pack again?" he taunted, though she could tell he was scared.

"Nope, just going to give you a message." She gave him a swift punch to the chest, surprising him enough so that she could sweep his feet out from under him. She sat on him to prevent him escaping. "Now you listen to me, Hacker. You're going to stop trying to take over Cyberspace and you're going to give me the virus code so I can purge it from Motherboard's circuits. Is that clear?"

"Who are you to give demands to The Hacker?!" he asked as he struggled to knock her off and stand.

"Who am I? I would say your worst nightmare, but that would be cliché. So instead I'll tell you who I am. I'm the orphan no one wanted. I'm the little girl who found a home in Cyberspace. I'm Dr. Marbles' daughter, now Chief Technician to Motherboard in his absence. I'm Motherboard's daughter, and proud of it. And I'm the one who will stop you no matter the cost."

He spat at her, hitting her near the eye.

"Oh hell no," she hissed in a low voice. She leaned closer to the cyborg. "I'm gonna make ripping your power pack out look like a small scratch."

Not moving from her position, she reached over and grabbed a loose stone from the floor. Only then did she stand, but before Hacker could move she swung it, connecting with and denting his chest cavity. She swung it again, cracking his pocket protector, which was his new power pack. Swinging repeatedly, but making sure she wasn't going to kill him, Maddie made sure he knew she was through playing games.

"Now," she said, dropping the stone, "what's the virus code?"

"I'll never tell!"

She looked him over, taking in the various debts and scratches she had put on him.

"Are you sure? I can always hit you some more."

"Do what you want, but you'll never get the code!"

Something sparked in his eye that made her back up. There, burning brightly for a split second, was a spark of insanity, and she did not want to fuel an inferno.

"Fine, have it your way. But know this; one day I won't be so merciful."

She turned and walked out, leaving the badly beaten Hacker and robots to lick their wounds. Matt, Jackie, Inez, Digit, and her father were waiting for her outside.

"What happened in there?" Matt asked as they began walking back toward town.

"I just...gave Hacker a message. One that's been long overdue," Maddie replied.

"He didn't hurt you?" Marbles asked, glancing over her frame.

"He didn't hurt me. Can't say the same the other way around."

"What did you do?" Inez asked.

Maddie shrugged.

"Beat him senseless with a stone."

"What?!" the whole group yelled.

"He spat on me, so I retaliated."

"Sounds like when you were little," Digit said.

Maddie's mood immediately darkened.

"What happened when you were little?" Matt asked.

"I don't like to talk about it."

"But-"

"Matt, please. Not now," Maddie said, curling in on herself as images flashed across her mind.

"Oh look, there's the cybercoop," Marbles said, desperate to break the tension. They walked along in silence until they reached it. "Once again you've preserved the safety of Cyberspace," he said as they gathered around his coop. "Motherboard is grateful."

"Indeed I am," her voice called as she appeared behind them in the window of a house. "Many roads lead to Castleblanca, but only one leads to Hacker's castle, and you found it."

"Thanks, Mother B," Jackie said.

"Here's lookin' at you, kids."

She winked, creating a portal for them. They were sucked in, presumably to return to their pre-mission activities.

"I miss you, Daddy. I wish you'd come home," Maddie said, facing her father.

"My little gigabyte, I wish I could. But you know I have to find the Encryptor Chip."

"I know. Guess I'll see you sometime soon, huh?" she asked, fully aware of her mother waiting to give her a portal home.

"Sometime very soon I hope."

"Bye, Daddy."

She hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"Good-bye, my little gigabyte."

She stood back with Digit and watched him fly away. She sighed as the coop left her sight.

"You okay, Maddie?" Digit asked.

"Yeah, I'm just upset that I didn't get Mom's virus code."

"But you tried," Motherboard said, reappearing in the window. "And you defeated Hacker. Good job, darling. Ready to come home?"

"Yeah Mom, I'm ready."

A pink portal sucked them in, vanishing nearly as quickly as it was created. They didn't notice the pair of eyes glaring at them as they disappeared.


	6. Cool It

"Out with the old," Buzz said as he syphoned blue gunk out of Control Central. "In with the new."

Green gunk took the blue's place.

"Don't forget to wave at the camera," Delete croaked.

The shorter bot waved as Delete turned.

* * *

"Morning, Motherboard," Digit greeted as he entered the Control Room. "Morning, Maddie."

"Hey Dige," the girl greeted with a yawn, not yet fully awake.

"You ready to do the tune up?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec." She stretched, groaning in pleasure at the rush of energy. "All right, I'm good to go."

She motioned her brother over to the keyboard while she popped open a side panel to check some wiring.

"Sorry about this, but I promised," Digit apologized. "A tune up a day while the doc's away. Say ah."

Motherboard complied, opening a small disc drive beneath her keyboard. The cybird stuck in a small instrument that measured temperature, ensuring her circuitry wasn't overheating. He pulled it back out, expecting the normal reading.

"Yikes!" he said when he pulled it back out and saw it had melted.

"What?" Maddie asked, not lifting her eyes to see the source of his panic. "Dige?"

She looked up when he didn't answer, concern creasing her face.

"Look!" he yelped, holding up the ruined instrument.

"Oh my god!" Maddie said, leaving her work and going over to him. "Mom, are you all right?"

"Are you...as hot as I am?" Motherboard asked.

"Well, I like to think I'm not unattractive," Digit said, pulling out a mirror.

"Not now, Dige!" Maddie snapped, already working on opening the panel that covered her mother's tank.

"Check Cryoxide," Motherboard said.

"On it," the girl replied.

"I put in an order for more Cryoxide last night," Digit said.

Maddie got the panel open, steam immediately shooting out and hitting her in the face.

"What the heck?" she asked, fanning at the cloud.

She looked at the contents of the tank, eyes narrowing. Digit joined her.

"What is this stuff? Cryoxide is blue not-ew!" Green gunk shot out and hit him in the face. Maddie jumped backward. "I'll pretend that didn't just happen." More hit him in the face. "Motherboard, calm down."

"Digit? Is th-that you? Systems too hot, much too hot. Burning up," Motherboard said, her vision blurring and distorting.

"Uh-oh, not good!" Maddie said, rushing to the keyboard.

She began typing diagnostic sequences, shutting down anything that wasn't necessary for her mother to function.

"I gotta do something! Think, think!" Digit panicked. Maddie squealed as disks shot out of the keyboard, and he yelped and ducked to avoid being hit. "There's gotta be a way to cool her down. Cold, cold. I need something cold!"

He ran to the freezer, tossing aside numerous foods, all in alphabetical order.

"Leave it to Dr. Marbles to alphabetize his food! Ah-ha! Ice!" he cried triumphantly, pulling out a large bag.

"Be careful with that!" Maddie called, crouching by the keyboard and continuing to try and control the situation.

He ran over and dumped it on her tank, watching as it instantly melted on contact.

"That's better," he said, relieved that steam stopped rolling off of it.

"It's only a temporary fix. We need more Cryoxide," Maddie said, standing up as the disks stopped flying.

He picked up the phone and dialed. "Hello, Blue Falls Cryoxide? Don't put me on hold! No, this is an emergency! I need help here," he mumbled just as an enormous cloud of steam billowed from the tank.

"Out of the way!" Maddie yelled, grabbing him as the tank began shaking. They overturned a table and ducked behind it. "We need the earthlies."

"How are we gonna get 'em here with Motherboard overheating and out of control?"

"I can manually create some portals, but then I'll have to disable them until the Cryoxide gets here."

"Do it," Digit said.

Maddie crawled over to the keyboard, ducking some more rouge disks. She quickly typed in the sequence for three portals, sending them to the kids' various locations. "They'll be dropped off in the hall. Hopefully that way they won't get hurt."

The sound of feet hitting the floor and the doors whooshing open drew their attention. Jackie and Inez walked in, gasping at the steam that was beginning to fill up the room.

"Quick, over here!" Digit yelled.

"What's going on?" Inez asked as they joined Digit behind the table.

"I'll explain when Matt gets here."

"Which will hopefully be soon!"

The doors whooshed open.

"Let me guess; Motherboard's virus is worse," Matt said as he entered the room.

"She needs fresh Cryoxide!" Digit said as Matt crawled over to where he and the girls were hiding behind a table.

"Good thing I just came from baseball practice, looks like you guys need these," Matt said, observing the flying discs and handing them baseball helmets. "You okay up there, Maddie?"

"I'm good!"

"Thanks, Matt," Inez said as she and Jackie took one.

"Sorry, I only have two. What's Cryoxide?"

"Follow me," Digit said, beginning to crawl toward the supercomputer. "Cryoxide is the coolant in her tank and radiator that keeps her from overheating and melting her CPU," he explained.

"If she doesn't get more soon the whole system will crash!" Maddie threw in.

"All I see is green, yucky goo," Jackie said.

"That's the problem!"

"What happened?" Inez asked.

"I dunno, I was just about to check the security tape," Digit said, raising up just enough to hit a button and view the screen. Maddie moved over to give him access. "Here's our regular delivery of Cryoxide."

"Are you sure?" Inez asked.

Just then, the Borg on the screen toppled over, revealing Buzz and Delete.

"It's Buzz and Delete!" Jackie said.

"Buzz? Delete? Hack...H-Ha-Hack attack," Motherboard slurred.

"Calm down, Mom, we've got it under control," Maddie assured her mother.

"They must have filled Motherboard's tank with that soupy stuff! That's why she's overheating!" Digit said.

"So Motherboard needs a fresh tank of Cryoxide, right? How much in a tank full?" Matt asked.

They all looked at Maddie, who was rapidly collecting disks and shoving them back in their slots.

"Can't remember at this exact moment, I'm a little busy!" she said tensely.

They looked at Digit.

"I don't know, but there's only one place to get it. Castleblanca," Digit said.

"Castleblanca?!" the kids chorused.

"Not again," Inez groaned.

"I can't reach them, so we have to go there," Digit explained.

"Figures," Matt grumbled.

"Okay guys, let's get organized," Jackie said. "If we're going to bring back the Cryoxide we need something to carry it in."

"There's some spare jars in the kitchen," Maddie said, finally finishing with the disks.

They gathered them all, even the ones that were nowhere near large enough, and began comparing them to Motherboard's tank.

"Hmm, I don't think any of these jars hold as much liquid as Motherboard's tank," Jackie said, comparing yet another jar. "They're tall enough but too narrow."

"And this looks wide enough, but it's way too short," Inez said.

"There has to be one here that will hold the same amount," Maddie said, looking through the jars again.

"Hey, look what I found! A little taller and almost as wide, it's a match!" Matt said, sitting down the last container on the tank. "They should both hold the same amount of Cryoxide."

The container triggered something in Maddie's mind, something important. It had something to do with the volume of the tank, she was sure of it.

"Hey guys, there's something-" she began, but was cut off as her mother began randomly spouting words.

"Cowboy...riding...hip! Fishing."

They all looked up at her.

"What's she doing?" Inez asked.

"Skiing...barbie...go, go, go, goulashes."

"I think she's trying to reboot," Digit said.

"She is," Maddie said, going over to the console. "Unfortunately, her systems are too hot to properly perform her commands. Even if she did reboot it wouldn't help."

"Don't worry, Motherboard. We'll be back in no time," Matt promised.

The four ran out to the garage, jar in tow, while Maddie stayed behind to try and find a way to help Motherboard temporarily.

"There it is!" Digit said, turning on the lights. "The doc's new two-seater cybercoop."

"Um, we have a problem," Inez said.

"Yeah, no CD player, " Matt joked.

"I meant there's not enough room for all of us."

"I'll stay here with Maddie and Motherboard in case they need help," Digit said.

"And I'll stay here with Digit in case he needs help," Jackie said.

"There's an onboard tracking system already programmed for Castleblanca," Digit said as Inez climbed into the driver's seat.

"Hey, who said you get to drive?" Matt complained.

"You drove last time," Inez said calmly.

"Oh. Wait, there was no last time!"

Inez took off while Jackie and Digit re-entered the control room. Maddie was under the console, having opened a panel, and was tinkering with the wiring.

"How's she doing, sis?" Digit called.

"As well as can be expected while nearly frying all her circuits," the girl responded.

"How much longer do you think she can go without cooling down?" Jackie asked.

"Not much longer," Maddie said, crawling out from the panel and closing it. "Look."

She held out her hand, which had angry red blisters running across it.

"Oh my gosh! What happened?" Jackie squealed.

"I was trying to adjust the wires to hopefully buy us some time, and I burnt my palm when I touched them."

"Are you okay?"

"I will be. Nothing some cold water and bandages can't fix," the blonde said with a smile.

Meanwhile, Hacker was busy trying to select his crown should his plan succeed and he take over Cyberspace.

"Nope, uh-uh, too small! Much too small for the next king of Cyberspace!" Hacker said to his reflection. "Wide is good, but I need something bigger, more impressive. After all, it's going to crown absolute greatness!"

"Boss, Boss! We're watching Motherboard like you said, and we just saw those pesky kids!" Buzz radioed in.

"Yeah, they just left Control Central," Delete threw in.

"Don't bother me now, you sniveling cybirds, I'm busy!" Hacker snapped, trying on another crown. "I just want to know if that contaminated concoction of Cryoxide has Motherboard ready to blow her top!"

"Oh, yeah! She's smokin', Boss, smokin'," the two chorused.

"Good! Now find out what those kids are up to. If they interfere in my plan, I'll sever your circuitry one gigabyte at a time! Is that clear?"

"Oh yeah, Boss, clear as a bell. W-we're on it," Buzz said.

"Hey, Boss? Nice crown," Delete said.

"Move it!" Hacker yelled.

* * *

"According to the tracking system, that's Blue Falls Castle down there," Inez said, flying over said castle.

"Don't you think you should slow down a little?" Matt asked.

"Why? Is there a speed limit in Cyberspace?" Inez asked sarcastically.

"Only for landing! Look out!" Matt yelled.

The coop screeched to a halt just outside the castle doors.

"Not bad for an earthlie, huh?" Inez asked.

"I'm impressed," Matt conceded.

Neither noticed Buzz and Delete spying on them from the air.

"Uh-oh, they must be lookin' to get some new Cryoxide," Buzz said.

"Oh the Boss isn't gonna be happy about this. What do we do, Buzzy? What do we do?!" Delete asked, panicking.

"We stop 'em, that's what we do. Put this baby down somewhere."

Delete listened, landing the hovercraft 'somewhere'. Somewhere just happened to be the river. A sea monster surfaced, looking at them like they were lunch. Buzz glared at Delete.

"What?" he asked cluelessly.

 ** _..._**

"Hope this is the right castle," Matt said as they climbed the stairs.

"You see any other blue castles? This has to be it," Inez said.

"That's what we said last time. If Dracula answers the door I'm gone."

"That's a good sign," Inez said, pointing to the stain glass waterfall over the door.

"Hold it right there," a voice said from below them as the door opened.

"Weren't you at another castle?" Matt asked the gnome.

"Aren't we all from someplace else? What d'ya want? And make it short, I like short."

"We came for Cryoxide, it's important."

"So am I," the gnome said. "Walk this way. I'll get the head man up here." He pulled a rope, sending him shooting into the ceiling. "Oh, I gotta fix that sometime," he grumbled, walking away.

"Man, and I thought we had a tough job," Matt said.

"I guess we should just wait in here," Inez said, heading toward some large double doors. "Wow! What a place!"

* * *

Maddie was desperately trying to control her mother. The supercomputer wasn't in her right mind, and therefore couldn't control her actions. Currently, her temperature gauges were malfunctioning, causing the temperature to plummet throughout Control Central. It was so cold in the control room that Motherboard was actually steaming. Digit and Jackie stood behind her as she frantically tried to override her mother's commands.

"At least we know that she's not completely delirious yet," Maddie mumbled, hands flying across the keys.

"I thought she was overheating," Jackie said.

"She is," Maddie said without looking at her.

"But the way you said it made it sound like she was sick."

"Think of it this way," Maddie said, turning to face her. "If she were human like us or a, well, humanoid cyborg like my dad, this would be an extremely high fever. Dangerously high. Since she is, for all intents and purposes, a computer, she overheats. But it's like a fever, get it?"

Jackie nodded.

"So basically, this can kill her?"

"Yes, that's exactly why Hacker did it." She turned back to the keyboard. "When I get my hands on him..." She finally input the correct sequence, regaining control. "There." She faced them again. "She's still coherent enough to try and cool herself down. That's good, I just hope Matt and Inez get back with the Cryoxide soon."

* * *

"What's with the jar, kiddo?" Sams asked.

"We need Cryoxide," Matt said. "It's for Motherboard."

"Buzz and Delete contaminated her supply, and now she doesn't have any!" Inez told him. "She's desperate."

"That's a real sob story, you're breaking my heart," one head said.

"Mine too," said the other. "But there's a thousand cybersites and a thousand sob stories just like yours. Right this way."

He step on a hidden lever, sending the portion of floor they were standing on sinking into the ground.

They had no clue Buzz and Delete had arrived upstairs in disguise.

"We're closed!" the gnome shouted when he opened the door.

"Too bad!" Buzz said. "I'm from the health department. Move aside, come dome, I'm checkin' for vermin."

 ** _..._**

"Take a gander, kiddos. Cryoxide Falls," Sams said, gesturing to a large blue waterfall.

"Awesome!" Matt said

"And cold," Inez added, shivering.

"Ah, you get used to it."

"Can you fill our jar, Sams? We're really in a hurry."

Sams laughed.

"What's so funny?" Matt asked.

"Let me tell you something, kiddo. This stuff is precious. Everyone in Cyberspace needs it. This coolant is hot, hot, hot. We have so many orders to fill there's barely enough to go around. Besides, Motherboard already got her shipment."

"But we told you what happened. Come on Sams, we're allied about Motherboard, the protector of all Cyberspace!" Inez pleaded.

"Do you want Hacker to take over? You need her, Sams, don't let her down," Matt begged.

After a minute disagreement between his heads, Sams finally agreed to give them some.

"One jarful, that's it."

"Thanks, Sams," Inez said.

Somehow, Buzz and Delete had managed to get inside the pipe that pumped Cryoxide to the storage tank.

"They're gettin' more Cryoxide!" Buzz said.

"We gotta stop 'em, Buzzy! You heard what the Boss said!" Delete wailed.

"There you go, kiddo. And don't show your faces 'round here again."

"We won't," Matt promised.

"Tell Motherboard this one's on the house," Sams said. "Now if you'll excuse me I have a reservoir to fill."

He threw a switch, sweeping Buzz and Delete away in a flood of Cryoxide. Matt and Inez left as quickly as they could, hurrying back to Control Central.

* * *

"They're back!" Jackie said when she saw the coop fly into the garage.

"Thank God!" Maddie said. "I hope they got the Cryoxide."

"Hand me some jars. I'll start draining this gunk out of the tank," Jackie said.

"There's still something bothering me about her tank," Maddie mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Nothing, just thinking aloud."

"Oh, okay."

"We got it!" Matt cheered as he and Inez carried the jar, now blue, through the doors.

"All right!" Digit cheered. "Just give Jackie a few more minutes to finish draining the goop out of the tank."

"Works for me, this stuff is heavy!" Matt said, sitting down the container for a bit.

"I hope this works," Maddie sighed.

"Out with this goopy pea soup stuff," Jackie said as she emptied the last of it from Motherboard's tank. "Bring on the Cryoxide, guys!"

"This should cool her down!" Matt said, tipping the jar.

The liquid sizzled as it came in contact with the hot metal, but it did seem to cool down the tank. Motherboard's background of rings, which had become green and purple as she got hotter, morphed back into pink and blue.

"It's working!" Inez cheered.

"Way to go!" Jackie cried.

Their celebration was cut short when they realized Motherboard wasn't cooling down.

"She'll be comin' round the mountain when she comes!" the supercomputer sang.

Her background turned back to green and purple, and she began to warp on the screen. Maddie narrowed her eyes, looking at the tank.

"What's going on?" Inez asked.

"She's heating up again!" Matt yelled as steam began rolling from the tank once more.

"No wonder! Her tank's not full!" Maddie said.

"That's impossible! Our container's the same size as Motherboard's!" Matt said, sitting the jar in front of the tank for comparison. "It should be full!"

The tank began glowing red, hissing and spitting out steam. Maddie backed away, realizing what was about to happen.

"It's gonna blow!" Digit yelled as the room began shaking. "Take cover!"

They ran behind an overturned bookshelf just as a high pitched whistle, somewhat like a tea kettle, began sounding from the tank. An explosion rocked the room.

"Woah, her tank panel blew off!" Matt said when things had settled down.

"And all the Cryoxide we just put in is gone!" Digit said.

"Her tank's totally empty!" Inez said.

"And look! Her storage tank goes all the way back here!" Jackie said, walking along the length of it. "Way deeper than we thought."

"That's it! That's what's been bothering me!" Maddie yelled, approaching the tank. "I didn't think her tank was that small, but since I never work with it and haven't seen it in its entirety since I was about five, I completely forgot it was three times deeper than it looked! Sorry guys," Maddie apologized.

"It's okay, Maddie. It was a mistake. We all thought her tank was smaller, too," Inez said.

"Yeah, but now we're back where we started. If I had only remembered her tank was bigger we could have fixed this by now."

"It's fine. We'll just have to get more Cryoxide."

"I'm looking, looking! Just looking!" Motherboard sang out, the screen rapidly changing colors and distorting.

"She's on web walk-about! I think she's delirious!" Digit yelled, beginning to panic.

"And now we're in trouble," Maddie said, face-palming. "We need a lot more Cryoxide, and we need it now."

"But we still don't know how much we need!" Matt said.

"We only know her tank is deeper than it looks," Inez said.

"The jars!" Maddie exclaimed. "Just because we put the gunk in different jars doesn't mean we changed the volume! We can empty those other jars and use them to bring back more Cryoxide."

"Great idea!" Inez said. "But what do we do with the green stuff?"

"We'll have to empty it back into her tank," Maddie said with a sigh.

"Can't we leave it empty or put something else in it?" Jackie asked.

"No, if we leave it empty there's a good chance she'll overheat further and literally explode."

"What about putting water in the tank?" Matt suggested.

"Can't. As hot as her operating systems are it would boil and evaporate before reaching her CPU. Besides, it would rust inside her."

"Aw man!"

"Sorry Mother B, but this is the only way I know how," Jackie apologized as she began pouring the contaminated Cryoxide back into her tank. "Start pouring, guys."

Once all the jars were empty they began loading them into the coop, forming a line and tossing them to one another. Maddie was trying to reboot her mother or shut her off for a bit, whichever came first.

"How many more empties?" Inez asked, loading yet another jar into the cybercoop.

"How many more?" Matt called back.

"How many more?" Jackie yelled to Digit.

"Last one comin'," he called back, before a giant crash and the tinkling of glass was heard. "Wuh-oh."

"What was that?" Maddie asked, pausing in her work. She turned when she didn't get an answer. "Oh no! Dige, that was the last container!"

He stared down at the last container. "Don't worry, don't worry, it's not broken, just a little cracked," he tried to assure Maddie and the kids as they came to see what had happened. "Well, maybe a lot cracked."

"I don't think it'll last the trip," Matt said, taking it.

"Sorry."

"It's okay, Dige. We can find something else to hold the same amount of liquid," Inez said. She looked around for a jar that was the same size as the one that had broken. "Only, I don't see one."

"Remember what I said about volume not changing even though the container does?" Maddie asked. "Well as long as we find one or two more containers that hold the same amount as this one did we'll be fine."

"How about this one?" Digit asked, holding up a tall slim glass.

"Let's check it out," Matt said, sliding the original container under the tank and filling it up.

"This jar holds as much as the one that cracked," Inez said. "We're back in business."

"Good, go. I don't know how much longer she can last like this."

* * *

"What if Sams says no?" Inez asked as they climbed the steps of the castle. "What do we do then?"

"He's not going to say no," Matt insisted.

"But what if he does? What's going to happen to Motherboard then?"

"Inez, he won't say no."

They were escorted back to the same room they had been in before. To say Sams was not pleased to see them would have been an understatement. He was even less happy when he learned they needed more Cryoxide.

"No!" SAMs' heads said in unison.

Back in Control Central, Maddie had finally succeeded in turning off the main monitor. The bad news was that she hadn't quite managed to put her mother on stand-by quite yet. She was just about to manually tie off some wires when Jackie's panicked yelp drew her attention.

"Jackie, you okay?" she called, wiggling out from under the console.

"A laser just shot at me!"

"A laser?"

"I think her laser printer's getting ready to act up," Digit said, hitting the floor as another laser shot over his head.

"Great," Maddie sighed, tightening the bandage on her burned hand. "I'll see if I can shut it off."

She approached the printer with hesitation, wary of being shot with a laser on top of burning herself. She had just reached it when another laser fired. She leaned back, the laser just skimming her shoulder. She hissed in pain, the new injury stinging almost as badly as her palm. She grasped it, not really helping but desperate to shield the new wound.

"You okay, Maddie?" Digit called, concerned for his baby sister.

"I'm fine, just a small burn."

Just then, the printer went haywire, firing lasers everywhere. Maddie hit the floor, throwing her arms over her head. Digit and Jackie dove under a nearby table, Jackie putting on the baseball helmet Matt had given her just in case.

"Take cover!" the younger of the two girls called to the blonde.

"I've gotta shut it off!" Maddie yelled back, crawling back to the laser printer.

* * *

Buzz and Delete, who had been trapped in the reservoir ever since they'd been swept away by Cryoxide, finally found a panel that let them out. They landed in the coop, hurriedly leaving when they heard Matt and Inez approaching. They opened the door, releasing them in a flood of Cryoxide and breaking the jars.

"What are we going to do now? Motherboard has to have new Cryoxide, or else-"

"Oh no, look!" Matt yelled, cutting her off.

"All the jars are broken!"

"Who would do something like this?"

Buzz and Delete snickered from their hiding place, glad they'd inadvertently ruined the kids' plan.

"Oh Matt, this is terrible! Even if Sams had said yes, we have no idea how much Cryoxide we need anymore!" Inez said.

"Well, he didn't say yes, so we don't have to worry about it."

"We do have to worry about it. If we don't get some for Motherboard Hacker will be able to take over Cyberspace."

"Wait!" called the gnome that took care of the castle. "If Motherboard's as desperate as you say, I'll give you Cryoxide. But only what you need, nothing more, nothing less."

"What about Sams?" Matt asked.

"Sams doesn't always see things the right way, ya know what I mean? So for now there's no place like gnome."

"Gee, this is really nice of you," Matt said.

"Yeah, all right let's not get mushy. What are we putting the Cryoxide in?" the gnome asked.

"Well, we were going to fill up these jars," Inez said, picking up what was once the top of a jar. "But now they won't hold anything."

"At least there'll be more room in the coop when we go back," Matt said.

"Room? Inside? Matt, that's it!" Inez said excitedly. "We can use the coop to hold the Cryoxide."

"We can?"

"Sure! Look at the coop like a big container." She crawled inside and shut the door. "A roomy inside space. A floor and walls that enclose volume. Think of it as, as a flying jar," she said proudly, poking her head out of the sunroof.

"Let's see; the coop had enough volume to hold the jars before they were broken. So, it has to hold more than enough without the jars!"

"Yes! All we have to do is keep the doors shut and fill it up through the sunroof," Inez said.

"Not so fast! I said you can take what you need but no more!" the gnome said.

"But we don't know how much we need now. I mean, we did before the jars broke. We knew exactly how much we needed."

"Well you'd better figure out exactly how much you need again! That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

"Wait a second. We may not know how much we need, but somebody does," Matt said, grabbing his skwak. "Jacks, it's me."

"Matt! Have you got the Cryoxide?"

"Not yet. How's Motherboard holding up?"

"Her laser printer's acting up, but we've got it covered now," Jackie said as she watched Maddie fiddle with the printer.

"Her tank's still filled with the contaminated stuff, right?" he asked.

"To the brim, Matt," she said.

"Okay, we need to do some measuring. For every scoop of glop you take out of her tank, we'll put the same amount into the coop."

"Into the coop?" Digit asked.

"I'll explain later," Matt promised.

"Only one problem. Whatever we use to measure with has to hold the same amount of Cryoxide as Jackie's measure, or it won't measure the same," Inez pointed out. "Oh Matt, this'll never work," she growled, picking up his baseball helmet to throw in bed frustration.

"Inez that's it!" Matt yelled. "Let me have that helmet." She handed it to him. "Jackie, you still have that batting helmet I gave you? I have mine."

"Got it. Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" she asked.

"Two identical batting helmets, both with the same dimensions."

"Which means that they both have the same volume!" Inez threw in.

"Got it!" Maddie yelled triumphantly, killing the lasers.

"Awesome!" Jackie said.

"What'd she do?" Matt asked.

"Killed the laser printer so we could come out of hiding."

"Nice. You ready to do this?"

"Yup. Batting helmets for measuring cups. Totally cool," Jackie said as she and Digit crawled out from under the table they had ducked under when lasers started flying everywhere. "Start measuring, Dige!"

"That's one," the cybird said as he poured the green gunk down the disposal.

"Fill 'er up," Inez said, holding out the helmet.

"This is goin' on Motherboard's bill ya know," the gnome said as he filled the helmet.

"One," Matt echoed, pouring it into the coop as Inez handed him the helmet.

"We gotta stop 'em, or the Hacker's gonna be really, really mad," Buzz said. "We gotta disconnect that hose, go!"

"All the way up there?" Delete gulped.

"Start climbin'," Buzz said, pushing him up the ladder on the side of the reservoir.

"That's fourteen," Matt said, pouring in the latest helmet full.

"Here's the last one, fifteen," Jackie said. "Fifteen helmets hold the same as Motherboard's tank."

"We got it, fifteen helmets full," Matt said.

"Okay, unscrew the hose," Buzz said after they reached the top.

"Hang on to my feet," Delete said as he hung over the rail.

"Not the suction hose!" Buzz panicked when he saw which one the robot was turning.

They were sucked in and flown through all the pipes before being ejected and eaten by the same sea monster they had run into earlier.

* * *

"I hope they get here soon," Maddie said, looking at the temperature gauges attached to Motherboard.

"They should, they finished right after we did," Jackie said.

"I know, it just makes me nervous to leave her tank empty when she's so close to melting her CPU."

"There they are! Come on guys, fill 'er up!" Digit yelled when Matt and Inez burst through the doors.

"Got a hose?" Matt asked, wringing out his shirt.

"Yeah, should be on a shelf in the garage. I'll help you find it," Digit said.

"Guys, you might wanna hurry!" Maddie yelled as the whole cite began shaking.

"Yikes! Come on, Mattie, let's go find that hose!" Digit yelled, dragging the boy into the garage.

The shaking grew worse, things falling over and toppling off shelves.

"Digit!" Maddie yelled.

"We're coming, we got it!" the cybird yelled, flying into the room with the hose.

"Quick, put it in!"

The hose fit in perfectly, luckily, and they began siphoning the Cryoxide into the tank. It hissed and steamed at first, and they were worried it would all evaporate before the tank could be filled. But it soon calmed down and the liquid rapidly filled the tank.

"There, that's all of it!" Matt called from the coop.

"You sure?" Inez asked.

"Yeah, it's all in the hose."

Maddie shook the hose, making sure every last drop was in the tank.

"It's full!" she yelled, screwing on the cap and closing the panels.

"Why isn't she waking up?" Matt asked worriedly.

"Give me a second. I had to put her in emergency shut down so that she wouldn't get worse before you guys got back." She typed in some commands and threw some switches before crawling under the console and rerouting some wires. "That should do it. It's all up to her now."

They waited with baited breath to see if she would boot up. The screen crackled a few times, static filling it, but Motherboard didn't appear.

"Maybe she did fry her CPU," Jackie said sadly.

"Don't worry, Jackie," Motherboard's voice said. "I'm fine." She blinked onscreen, her background back to normal. "Ah," she sighed. "That's so much cooler. Thanks for the refill."

"Good thing we figured out that different containers hold as much Cryoxide as your tank," Inez said.

"Yeah, different shapes but the same volume," Matt said. "Amazing."

"I'm amazed that we measured the volume of your tank with baseball helmets," Jackie said.

"You certainly hit a home run today," Motherboard said.

"That reminds me, I've gotta get back to batting practice it's my turn to hit!" Matt said, putting on his helmet.

"Oh, Matt, before you go back I have a little tip for you. Choke up on the bat and hit the ball where it's pitched."

"Gee, you really think so?" he asked.

"I know so. My team won the Cyberworld Series last year," Motherboard replied.

They laughed, glad that things were back to normal. Motherboard cued a portal to take them home, the three friends chatting happily now that their mission was over.

"You sure you're okay, Mom?" Maddie asked after the portal closed.

"I'm fine, just a little tired. What happened to your hand?"

"I was trying to buy a little time by rewiring some of your circuitry and when I grasped a wire it burned me, no big deal. I already took care of it."

"And your shoulder?" Motherboard asked.

"Your uh, laser printer went a little haywire. I tried to shut it down, and a laser nicked my shoulder. I'm fine, Mom, I swear," she said when she noticed how sad her mother looked.

"Why don't I remember any of this?" she asked.

Maddie cringed.

"I had to shut you down for a bit when they had to go back for more Cryoxide."

"How many trips did they make?"

"Two. How much do you remember?" Maddie asked.

"Not much. I remember the Cybersquad arriving but everything after is a blur. And then there was nothing and now I'm back online."

"It was pretty bad, Mom. You almost fried all your circuits and CPU. You were on web walk-about before I shut you down. This can't happen again. We have to up security so that Hacker can never sabotage your Cryoxide again."

"What about you, Digit? What do you think?"

"I think Maddie's right, Motherboard. This was almost it. It was bad, and if the kids hadn't helped I don't know what we would have done," he said, speaking for the first time since the kids had left.

"Very well," Motherboard said. "I'll point more cameras toward the delivery area."

"And I'll call Blue Falls and make sure only certified delivery men make your delivery," Digit said.

"Hopefully this will keep Hacker away," Motherboard said.

"For the time being, but he'll try something else, he always does," Maddie grumbled, for the first time since the whole mess started sounding like the child she still was rather than the accomplished technician.

"Sweetheart, I know you're afraid something will happen, I am too, but you don't need to worry about me. I'm your mother, I'm supposed to worry about you," Motherboard said.

Digit backed out of the room, sensing the conversation wasn't one he should overhear.

"But I do worry, Mom! You're sick, very sick, and Hacker almost killed you today! He's infected you with a deadly virus, kidnapped Daddy, and contaminated your coolant! I can't...I can't lose you. You're the only mother I know, and I love you."

"Oh honey," Motherboard said, wishing she were in her android form so she could properly comfort her daughter. "Hacker will be beaten, and I will be cured. You're not going to lose me or your father. We'll always be here for you. So will Digit, you know that."

"But how do you know, Mom? How do you know? What if Hacker actually gets lucky and one of his crazy plans works? What then?" Maddie asked, beginning to cry.

"I have faith in you and your brother, the Cybersquad, your father, and the rest of Cyberspace. Someone will defeat Hacker, and someone will find a cure someday. Until then, we just have to believe and make the most of our time together."

"Okay Mom, I'll try to have hope."

"That's my girl. Now, let me see those burns."

"They're fine, Mom, I swear," Maddie argued.

Digit grinned as the strains of the playful conversation reached his ears. He hadn't known his sister was so upset, she always seemed so strong and unaffected. But now that he knew he vowed he would try harder than ever to save their family, not just for their sake but for all of Cyberspace.


	7. A Battle of Equals

"Roll it out, Delete! Let's go, let's go, let's go! You heard the Boss. He wants the Grim Wreaker clean, now!" Buzz yelled as he directed his fellow robot, who was driving an odd vacuum-like device, out of a storage hanger.

"We just cleaned it this morning!" said robot whined.

"Yeah, you know the Boss. Everything here neat and tidy, everywhere else chaos and confusion. Hit it!"

Delete started it up and began cleaning the outside of the ship, sucking up various debris and garbage. Inside, Hacker was plotting his next take over scheme.

"I need a new plan to take over Cyberspace," Hacker said, tossing yet another rumpled ball of paper at the overflowing trash can. "But nothing's coming. Nothing! Think! Think!" He crumpled the sheet of paper he was working with, standing and storming toward the ramp. "But how can I think with all that noise outside? Turn that thing off-"

Delete's machine sucked up his wig.

"Ah!" he screamed, feeling his head. "You pilfered my peruke!"

"Delete!" Buzz yelped, tearing off his sound blocking headphones and jumping around. "Give the Boss his wig back! Hurry!"

"Which one is it? Lift, stir, chop, rend? Ah, here it is, eject!" Delete said triumphantly, sending garbage flying everywhere.

The two robots stood slack-jawed as Hacker was buried under the debris. He popped up and spit out a bone, obviously furious.

"Get this garbage off me!" A look of enlightenment crossed his features. "Wait, that's it. Garbage, waste, yes! My new plan."

They traveled to a small satellite just outside of Sensible Flats. Buzz and Delete asked questions during the trip but Hacker refused to answer.

"Waste, as in, waste product of Cyberspace," Hacker said as he stared out at electric blue static that was being sucked into the station they were in. "Cyberstatic."

"Oooh, ooh, ooh. Pretty, Boss," Buzz said as he watched it flow through the pipes.

"Yeah, pretty blue cyberstatic," Delete agreed.

Hacker laughed.

"More like pretty dangerous." Buzz climbed onto a small storage bin where the static was temporarily stored after being collected, and opened the lid. "Cyberstatic used to fly all over Cyberspace, scrambling messages, zapping cybersites, causing complete chaos!" A light engulfed the small robot, covering him in waste. He tried to wipe it off, but only succeeded in sticking himself and Delete together. "I loved it! But Doctor Marbles created these satellites to clean up cyberstatic, sucking it inside through the satellite dish, through these pipes, and out into the cyberstatic reservoir!

The results? Cyberspace became crisp and clean! No more cyberstatic cling! Motherboard was happy and I was miserable. But Motherboard won't be smiling much longer! I'm about to activate my most ingenious plan yet!"

He crossed to the control panel, ignoring Buzz and Delete, who were pushing against each other as they tried to separate themselves.

"When I reverse the process, this satellite will shoot years and years of cyberstatic back into Cyberspace." Buzz and Delete separated, Buzz shooting back into the bin and getting covered with more static, sticking them back together. "Once again causing complete and utter chaos," Hacker finished, throwing a lever and howling with laughter.

* * *

"Nice ollie, dude," Slyder complimented as Maddie landed.

"Thanks. Been practicing so I don't face plant again," she said.

It was one of the rare days she had off, meaning there were no updates scheduled, no data to transfer, and no parts to replace. Her mother had all but begged her to go offsite, citing her recent increase in workload as reason enough. Stressed and ready for a break, she agreed easily, calling her old friend Slyder and scheduling a park day.

"Been meaning to ask, how's your mom?"

"She's been better," Maddie sighed, kicking her board into her hand. "Lately there's been several parts and wires that have shorted out that I've had to replace, not to mention the search for the Encryptor Chip, and keeping tabs on Hacker."

"Wow, sounds pretty stressful."

"You have no idea," she groaned, flipping onto the concrete. "I don't mind really, but sometimes I wish I wasn't so smart. So I could still be a kid, ya know?"

"Believe me, I get it," Slyder said. "I may not be Cyberspace's top technician and programmer, but I have been keeping up the business since Dad's been gone."

"Any luck on that front?"

"Not yet, but hopefully soon." He grinned at her. "Hey, remember when we were kids and I accidentally knocked you off your board? Our parents totally flipped."

"Yeah, I remember. Dad wasn't so bad, but Mom didn't want me to skate anymore. I couldn't get the blood out of my shirt for weeks!" she said with a laugh.

"You had it easy. Do you know how freaked out my Dad was when he realized who you really were? I thought he was gonna blow a gasket after he saw your lip and arm."

"It was just an accident."

"Yeah, but you're basically the next ruler of Cyberspace and what do I do? Knock you off a skateboard."

Maddie grinned as the memory flooded back.

 ** _..._**

 _She and Slyder hadn't known each other long, a few months tops, and she'd traveled to Radoplois to skateboard with him. She wasn't very good, having never picked up a board before in her seven short years of life. He promised to teach her though, and that was enough to convince her to go. They were going over the basics, how to steer, turn, and stop, when Slyder got a little bored and decided to show off._

 _"Hey Maddie, watch this!" he yelled._

 _She looked up as he did some tricks on the half pipe, gasping in wonder. Wanting to get a closer look, she shakily boarded a little closer._

 _"That's amazing!" she yelled to him._

 _Grinning, he went for a flip, something he hadn't quite mastered yet. Half-way through the trick, he lost his grip on the board, sending him soaring through the air._

 _"Look out!"_

 _Maddie couldn't move fast enough, and he slammed into her, knocking her onto the ground. She yelped as the concrete cut into her arm, making it sting as the skin was scraped. Her lip exploded in pain, and they both laid there in a daze. Slyder was the first to recover, standing up and shaking it off._

 _"You okay?" he asked, extending a hand to help her up._

 _"I-I think so," she muttered, wincing as she felt the blood run down her chin._

 _"Oh crap! Come on, my Dad'll know what to do!"_

 _He began pulling her toward the garage, despite her protests._

 _"Slyder, its fine! It's just a little blood!" When that didn't work, she changed tactics. "He'll call my dad, you know he will, and the chances are good my mom will answer instead."_

 _"Well we have to do something! You're bleeding, like, actually bleeding!"_

 _He was panicking and she knew it._

 _"Calm down! I get hurt all the time, even at Control Central. Yes, I'm bleeding. No, it can't be buffed out because I'm not a cyborg, but it will heal." She took her shirt and wiped at her lip and chin. "See? Good as new. No need to call anyone."_

 _He didn't listen, and wasn't satisfied until his father was dialing Maddie's dad. Of course, he didn't know he was calling Dr. Marbles, as Slyder had told him Maddie was just someone from another site, not that she was Motherboard's daughter. The reaction he had when Motherboard did indeed answer was amusing to say the least. He managed to keep his cool, explaining what had happened, though he did jump back when a swirling portal appeared to retrieve the young girl._

 ** _..._**

"Good times," Maddie sighed, absentmindedly running a finger over her lip.

"You call being bloody and panicked good times?" Slyder asked in disbelief.

"It was before everything went to hell," she grumbled, her mood immediately darkening.

Slyder winced, regretting asking. They sat in silence for a bit, each lost in their thoughts. A sudden flow of Radsters rushing past caught their attention.

"Hey dude, where's everyone going?" Slyder yelled into the crowd.

"There's a special news report on the main screen. Something about Hacker!" a borg called back.

The two looked at each other, nodding and scrambling to join the flood of cyborgs. They reached the town square just in time to catch the beginning of the report. Erica Ram was onscreen, and in the top left corner was live footage.

"This just in, all the satellites that filter and collect cyberstatic have been reversed! Hacker is suspected to be behind it all, though he wouldn't answer our calls to confirm. We all know the dangers of cyberstatic, so use precaution when traveling from site to site."

"How did he do that?" Slyder asked as the broadcast cut. "Didn't your dad put some sort of lock on each satellite so this kind of thing could never happen?"

"Yeah, but it's not impenetrable. It's a number lock, dealing with balancing totals. As long as you enter the correct sequences the lock with unlock and boom! Pollution everywhere."

"So where does the static go, exactly?"

"Relax, Radoplois isn't in range of any of the satellites. If I remember correctly, Sensible Flats, the Forest, and Solaria will be hit first."

"Isn't there a fourth one?"

"Yes, and if I'm right, the site affected by that static will be-" She gasped, her eyes growing wide. "Sly, I've gotta get back to the garage, now!"

"What? Why? Isn't this the safest place to be right now?"

"Yes, but I just remembered where the fourth satellite is aimed," she explained as they ran.

"Where?" he asked.

"Directly at Control Central."

"I didn't think there was one close to there."

"Not close per say, but close enough to do massive damage if left unchecked."

"How massive?"

She stopped, looking him dead in the eye.

"If I don't warn my mom soon, it could potentially delete her from existence."

"What are we waiting for? Let's get you out of here!"

They reached his garage in record time, and she only spared enough time to toss Slyder her board before starting the cyberpod. He waved to her as she took off, hoping she could get there in time. Maddie flew faster than was probably safe, dodging other pods and various debris. Luckily, her route steered clear of any satellites, so she didn't have to worry about that. She landed in the garage of Control Central mere minutes before the cyberstatic began raining down.

Not wasting any time, she opened the link on the monitor down there.

"Mom! Mom, can you hear me?"

"Maddie? What's wrong?" Motherboard asked, appearing on the screen.

"Hacker reversed all the satellites! Cyberstatic is wreaking havoc across Cyberspace! I estimate that we have maybe twenty minutes tops before the pink reaches us."

"I'll alert the Cybersquad. Get Digit and have him ready the coop."

"On it."

* * *

Jackie sat at her desk, playing a computer game. She groaned as the villain gave her a math problem to solve to continue the game.

"Aw man, not a number riddle!"

Static sounded from the screen.

"Jackie! Hacker alert!" Motherboard called, appearing onscreen. "No time to waste!"

She fuzzed again, fading as a portal took her place.

"Sorry Sandman, saving the environment will have to wait. Motherboard needs me!" she said, standing from her chair and getting sucked into the portal.

* * *

Maddie had located Digit and explained the situation. He was currently checking the cybercoop to make sure it was ready for take off.

"Fuel? Check. Brake fluid? Check? Kids?" They landed in their seats beside him. "Check."

"Hey, Dige! Hi! What's up?" they greeted.

"Buckle up, earthlies! We gotta move fast!"

"Motherboard said Hacker's releasing cyberstatic throughout Cyberspace," Inez said.

"He's made a real mess out here! Gotta shut that stuff down now!" Digit exclaimed.

The dome to the cybercoop closed with a whoosh and they were off.

* * *

"Yes! I have unleashed the perfect plan to pollute Cyberspace!" Hacker said as he watched his plan slide into motion from the Grim Wreaker. "Satellite one is contaminating Sensible Flats." The screen changed. "Satellite two is shorting out Solaria's Sunisphere."

"You're a genius, Boss," Buzz complimented.

"Yeah, and smart, too," Delete said.

The screen changed again.

"Satellite three is destroying the forest!"

"What about satellite number four, Boss?" Delete asked.

"Yeah! Y-y-you said that has the nastiest cyberstatic of all!" Buzz recalled. "Where's that goin'?"

"That, my soft-headed sidekicks, is a surprise," Hacker growled, ending the conversation.

An alarm blared and the screen shifted to a view of the cybercoop landing at satellite one.

"Hey, it's Digit and those earth brats! We gotta do somethin'" Buzz said.

"Yeah, we gotta stop 'em!" Delete agreed.

"Actually, I've been expecting them," Hacker said calmly. "It's all part of the plan."

"Uh, I'm a little confused, Boss," Buzz said. "You want those pesky kids to stop satellite one from sendin' out cyberstatic?"

"And rest assured they will. But, it will take time to accomplish the feat, and time is on my side," he said, revealing a small timer with the minutes ticking away. "When the hand reaches zero, Cyberspace will be mine."

* * *

"Woah, look at all that gunk!" Matt said.

"That is so totally gross!" Jackie threw in.

"And it's destroying Sensible Flats!" Inez said, pointing to the monitor that displayed where the cyberstatic was landing.

"I thought pollution on earth was bad, but this is terrible! What do we have to do to stop it, Dige?" Jackie asked.

"We gotta push this lever back to suck the cyberstatic back in."

"Well then push it!" Matt said. "What're you waiting for?"

"If it was so easy I woulda pushed it already!" He grabbed the lever and tugged, proving that it wouldn't move. "There's a number lock on the lever! It won't budge 'til we enter the right code numbers!"

"Is that what Hacker did to release the cyberstatic?" Inez asked.

"He had to, it's the only way the lock works," Digit said.

"Where do we get the numbers?" Jackie asked.

"Off these weighty things," Digit said, showing them the pile. "I watched the doc do it once. He picked two weights, put one on each side of the scale, and..."

"And what?" Inez urged.

"And uh, that's all I remember except something has to balance. Does, uh, that help?"

"Yeah, it helps. A balance scale shows when two things weigh the same," Jackie explained.

"I knew that," Digit said weakly.

"Are you sure that's what we have to do? Balance the scale?" Matt asked.

"Well, uh, pretty sure."

"Does anyone else know how this thing works?" Jackie asked.

"Yeah, Maddie does. She's the one who helped design these things," Digit said.

"You couldn't have said that before?" Jackie asked.

"It slipped my mind, okay?"

"Never mind, Dige. Let's just call her and make sure we're doing this right." She pulled out her skwak. "Inez to Maddie. Can you hear me?"

"Yeah, what's up?" the older girl asked.

"Dige said you helped design the satellites. How does the number lock work?"

"See the scale by the console? Each side has to be balanced to find the code. The numbers that balance go in the boxes. Easy."

"Thanks." She put her skwak away. "Okay, let's get balancing."

"Here's a three. Is there another three down there?" Matt asked.

"Uh-uh. No threes," Jackie replied.

"Here's a five! Anyone got another five?" Digit yelled. "Lookin' for a five!"

"Got it!" Jackie said as she saw it. They put them on the scale and held their breath as the sides tipped. "It balances! Five equals five!"

"That must be the number code! I'll write it in," Matt said, grabbing a marker from his pocket.

"Hold it!" Digit said, stopping him. "I just remembered. We can't use just any old marker to enter the code. The doc used this special one."

"Hurry!" Inez urged. "Sensible Flats is almost Static Flats!"

"Five on the left equals five on the right!" Matt said as he plugged in the numbers.

"Security access permitted," a computerized voice said.

"We did it!" the three chorused as Digit pulled the lever.

"The satellite is pulling the cyberstatic back in!" Matt yelled. "Sensible Flats is saved!"

"No more pollution!" Jackie cheered.

"Yes!"

"Let's not get too happy here, folks. We still got three more satellites to fix," Digit said, effectively killing the mood.

"Three more?!" they chorused.

* * *

"Hopefully they'll figure it out," Maddie muttered as the call ended.

She was watching each satellite on her mother's monitor, as well as the sites that were affected. Sensible Flats was by far the worst, but that stood to reason as it was the closest site to a satellite. Suddenly, the static that had been piling up began to disappear, going back into the satellite.

"All right! They fixed the first satellite!" Maddie cheered. "I just hope they can fix the other three as fast as they fixed that one."

* * *

"Hmm, those earth brats fixed satellite one a little quicker than I expected," Hacker said as they left, glancing down at his timer that showed only about ten minutes had passed. "Buzz, Delete," the two turned from where they were eating doughnuts, "intercept those grade school gremlins and slow them down."

"But Boss, we just started lunch!" Buzz protested.

"Now!" Hacker yelled.

"Gotcha, Boss!" Buzz yelled as he and Delete scrambled to leave.

"Oh, someday, when Cyberspace is mine, I just know I'll be able to get better help!" Hacker groaned as he slumped back in his chair.

* * *

"There are three other satellites polluting Cyberspace?" Inez asked as they flew.

"Hacker reversed 'em all!" Digit said.

"When I come face to face with that polluter Hacker, I'll-" Jackie growled.

"Tell it to Buzz and Delete!" Digit shouted as he noticed them following.

They sped up, hoping to lose them. No such luck, as they kept right on their tail. The kids screamed as Digit turned the coop sideways in an attempt to fit through a piece of cybertrash.

"Nothin', I mean nothin' can stop us," he said confidently after he righted the ship.

"What about that?" Inez asked, pointing to a crescent shaped piece of debris.

They all screamed as they drew closer. At the last second, the coop split in two, both smaller versions going around the object.

 ** _..._**

"The brakes! Hit the brakes!" Buzz screamed as the coops flew away.

They hit the trash, bouncing off.

"Buzzy, stop this thing!" Delete yelled.

"No, no, no," the smaller robot muttered as he pushed ransoms buttons. "Let's try this one!" The ship screeched to a halt. "Next time I'm drivin'!"

"Oh no you're not!" Delete argued.

"Oh yes I am!"

"It's my turn!"

They fought over the joystick that served as a steering wheel. Meanwhile, the two mini coops flew next to each other.

"Woah, this is awesome!" Matt exclaimed as he handled the controls in his and Jackie's ship.

"Inez, it's me," Jackie called over her skwak. "We can stop the pollution faster if we fix satellite two and you guys take satellite three."

"Great idea, Jacks. See ya at number four!" Inez responded.

* * *

"Buzzy, let go!" Delete yelled.

"No way, DeeDee!" Buzz said.

"Now you discomonious duncebuckets," Hacker growled as he watched them from the Wreaker, "I'll pretend that didn't happen. Just stop those kids!" he yelled over a communication.

"That's easy for him to say," Buzz muttered.

"Now!"

* * *

"Oh man! Look what this stuff's doing to Solaria!" Jackie said as they watched red cyberstatic rain down on the site.

"Come on, we know the drill. Find the weights that balance the scale then plug those numbers in to unlock the security code," Matt said.

"Hacker must've been in a hurry when her was here. He left a seven on the scale."

"Well that makes it easy, then," Matt said as the went over to the weights. "All we need is another seven to balance it."

"A five, a two, a three..."

"A seven!" he shouted happily. "Told you it would be easy."

They put it on the scale, just to be sure.

"They balance!" Jackie said. "Let's put the sevens in the boxes."

"Oh no, there's three spaces left for numbers, not one," Matt said as he filled in the seven on the right side of the equal mark. "It can't be just a seven."

"So much for easy. Ugh. Now we have to find three weights that equal seven."

"Okay, okay, what do we have here?" Matt asked as they once again bent over the weights. "Let's start with a two and build up to seven."

He put it on the scale.

"Here's a five. Five and two equal seven so- Oh forget it, we need three weights to equal seven, not two," Jackie groaned.

"Let's try this three." The scale tipped further down. "Almost. We just need to make this side a little heavier.

"How about another two weight?" Jackie said, bringing it over.

"It balances! Let's put it in." Jackie wrote the numbers in the allocated boxes. "Two plus two plus three is the same value as seven!"

"Security access permitted."

"Touchdown! Cyberstatic, you are history!" Matt said, pushing the lever.

"It's working! Sunny days are here again!"

 ** _..._**

"It wasn't my fault we stalled out!" Delete said as they puttered along in a very damaged ship.

"Oh really? Was I driving? No! You were drivin!" Buzz yelled back.

"Yeah, but you were tellin' me what to do!"

"So don't listen to me next time! Come on, we gotta stop those kids!"

 ** _..._**

"Those poor bunnies!" Inez said as she watched them run from Orange cyberstatic. "We have to save them, Dige, we have to!"

"All right, all right, we will," he said calmly, glancing at the console. "Yikes! Look at all these places we gotta fill in!"

There were four boxes on each side of the equal mark, or eight boxes total.

"And look at all these weights! If we have to find a balance using all of them it'll take forever!"

"Well, we gotta start somewhere," Digit said, grabbing a weight. "Here's a six."

"Here's another six."

They worked their way through the weights, adding one of each number to each side of the scale until all the weights were gone.

"We did it! We balanced the scale using all the weights. Let's puts in the numbers and save those bunnies!" Inez said. "Uh-oh."

"What uh-oh?" Digit asked. "I don't like uh-ohs."

"There are only four places on each side to put numbers, and we have five weights on each side. One too many on each side of the scale."

"Don't tell me we have to start over!" the cybird groaned.

"Oh, and we're running out of time! Those cute little bunnies can't dodge the cyberstatic forever!"

"Nezzie, get a grip."

"You're right, Dige. Maybe we don't have to start over," Inez said.

She flipped into a handstand.

"Do you really think better that way?"

"Which way?" she asked. "Okay, what do we know? We know when we add the same amount to each side of a balanced scale it still balances."

"So maybe if we take away the same amount from each side it'll stay in balance, too."

Inez stood up.

"Of course! The new totals on each side will still match each other! We just have to figure out which weights Hacker didn't use and remove them."

"No problemo! The old beakaroo can smell The Hacker a mile away." He began sniffing the weights. "Yuck! The Hacker touched this one for sure! This one, too! And this one! But not this one. The four weight is clean."

"Let's see if you're right. We'll take a four from each side."

"Easy, easy, bea-u-tiful. We're still balanced," Digit said.

"That leaves us with a six, a two, a five, and a three on each side. Let's hope that's right," Inez said.

"The special marker, m'lady."

She wrote the numbers in.

"The total on the left side equals the total on the right side."

"Security access permitted," the computer rang out.

"Get ready to be saved, bunnies," Digit said as he pulled the lever.

"No more cyberstatic! Woo, we saved the bunnies!" Inez cheered.

"I'm so happy. You got a tissue?"

* * *

"Yes! Satellite two is fixed! And there goes Satellite three! Only one more left!" Maddie cheered.

A warning alarm began blaring, and Motherboard reappeared onscreen.

"Cyberstatic close. Circuits beginning to scramble."

Maddie gripped the console, wishing there was something she could do. She pulled up the feed from the outside cameras.

"Expected impact in three, two, one."

She yelped as the site became covered in pink, years of built up static pouring over them. Motherboard began to fuzz out, the screen crackling constantly with static. The top of the dome began to break down, reverting to the computer code of which it was made. Maddie whimpered and slid down the console, burying her face in her hands as a panic attack threatened to overtake her. She began shaking as she tried to fight it off, but it was no use. As Motherboard began to glitch above her she was completely overtaken by her mind.

* * *

Hacker laughed as he watched Motherboard get covered in pink static from satellite four.

"Ah, yes, my pollution plan is performing perfectly! In a few more ticks, Motherboard will be shut down, forever! And all of Cyberspace will be mine!"

* * *

Maddie's breaths came out in short pants as she began to rock back and forth. It wasn't the first panic attack she'd had, but it was the first without her mother to talk her through it. She knew it stemmed from the Spheres of Fear incident, and all she'd been forced to see. No one else knew, and she'd rather keep it that way. She knew, vaguely, as memories and images crashed over her, what was happening, but she couldn't stop it.

Motherboard, even as she felt herself being ripped apart and turned into code, was aware of what was going on around her. Her cameras were still working for the time being, and she saw her daughter sink to the floor. 'Not now, please not now,' she silently begged. Maddie had never made it through an attack without her, and she was in no shape to help.

Maddie screamed as she rapidly but vividly recalled every scenario involving her mother that she had seen four years before. Tears began leaking out of her eyes, soon running down her cheeks in rivulets. She continued to scream as her mind locked on to the very situation that was occurring around her.

 ** _..._**

 _Cyberstatic filled her vision, but she was unharmed as she was human. She found her way to her mother, this time in computer form, and began to sob as she watched her glitch and freeze. The console began to disappear, pieces falling off or ceasing to exist. The whole thing began to turn into computer code, her mother being the last to do so. Through her tears, she began pushing buttons and throwing switches, desperate to end whatever was happening. Nothing she did worked, and soon enough her hands sunk into the code._

 _"Mom!" she screamed, the sound raw and full of pain and fear._

 _The computer disappeared in a burst of code, and she collapsed onto the ground, body shaking with sobs._

 ** _..._**

The snippet of memory played over and and over, making her unaware of her surroundings. In that instant she was once again seven years old, scared and longing for her mother.

"Mommy," she whimpered.

Motherboard's glitches came faster, and she was losing her ability to focus on anything other than her working ability. She heard Maddie call for her and tried to respond, but found she was locked into a certain vocal pattern. 'Hurry cybermates,' she thought as the last of her cameras went down. 'There isn't much time left.'

* * *

"Satellite two is a-okay. We saved Solaira," Jackie said as they met up with Inez and Digit.

"Satellite three is back to normal, too. We saved the forest," Inez replied.

"And the bunnies. Don't forget the bunnies," Digit added.

"It's on to satellite four, the last one. Once we stop that one, we stop Hacker," Matt said just as a giant clang rocked the ship.

"Woah! What happened? What was that? They've got us!" they cried as they realized Buzz and Delete had attached a magnet to the roof.

 ** _..._**

"We got 'em now, DeeDee!"

"Yeah! The Boss is gonna be real happy!"

 ** _..._**

"This is not good, this is not good at all!" Inez said.

"Come on, Dige, do something! We've gotta get to that fourth satellite and shut it down!" Matt yelled.

"Relax guys, this baby's full of surprises," he said, pushing a button.

The dome came off, revealing a second one underneath, and they flew away.

 ** _..._**

"Who knew they could do that?" Delete asked.

* * *

"Bye-bye, Motherboard," Hacker laughed. "Ciao."

"Hacker alert! Find, find, find!" Motherboard glitched onscreen.

An alarm blared, and he gasped. The viewing screen changed, showing the Cybersquad inside the landing pad of satellite four.

"What?! Those kids have reached satellite four already? I'll have to stop them myself!"

The Wreaker sped out of the hanger, Hacker desperate to win.

* * *

"No time! Find! I...I'm..." Motherboard continued to glitch.

"Motherboard!" Jackie yelled in horror as they entered the control room.

"I'll try and call her!" Inez said. "Inez to Motherboard! Inez to Motherboard! Come in Motherboard!" Static met her ears. "Let me try Maddie. Maddie, can you hear me? Maddie, are you there?!" More static. "Nothing," she sighed.

"Hacker alert! Find! Find!" the supercomputer continued to blare as she dematerialized.

"Oh no! She's totally polluted!" Jackie yelled.

"Not for another three minutes!" Hacker snapped as he stepped inside.

"Hacker!" they yelled.

" _The_ Hacker to you. The first three satellites were merely decoys to keep you busy while Motherboard received an ultra high dose of cyberstatic from this one!" he growled, and it was apparent he was beyond furious.

"You listen to _me_ , Hacker!" Matt yelled.

"No! _You_ listen to _me_! When the big hand reaches zero Motherboard will be beyond recovery and Cyberspace will be mine!"

"I always knew you were mean, Hacker, but this is a new low! Contaminating the air, destroying the environment, don't you care about anyone but yourself?" Jackie snapped.

"In a word, no," he said.

"Come on guys, there's still time to find the number code!" Inez said.

"You'll have to remove me first!" Hacker said, blocking the console. "And nobody removes The Hacker!"

"Look out!" Jackie warned as a huge tube slithered through the door and sucked up Hacker.

He broke the scale on his way out and they gasped.

"The scale!" Digit yelled.

 ** _..._**

"Woah! We caught the Boss instead of the kids!" Buzz yelled. "L-l-let 'im go, DeeDee! Blow 'im out!"

"I'm tryin'! I'm tryin'!"

 ** _..._**

"Motherboard's almost out of time!" Inez said, picking up Hacker's timer. "We've got to stop the cyberstatic!"

"But we don't have the scale! We can't figure out the code without the scale!" Jackie wailed.

"Look, all the numbers are filled in but one!" Matt said, pointing to the three numbers. "It's a long shot, but I bet we can figure out the missing number without the scale."

"We need to find the number that will make the total on this side equal the total on the other!" Inez said.

"Time for the skwakpad," Jackie said, pulling hers out. "If we combine the one and the five the value's still six, right?"

"Right," Matt answered. "So something plus two equals six."

"Four!" Inez yelled, startling them all. The missing number is four! Four plus two equals six!"

"Are you sure?" Matt asked.

"Just plug it in."

"We don't have time to be wrong."

"Plug it in!" the young girl screeched. "Motherboard only has a few seconds left!"

"Jeez, okay Nezzie, calm down," Matt said, writing in the number.

"Security access permitted."

"This is for you, Motherboard!" Digit yelled as he pulled the lever.

"We did it! Yes!"

* * *

"Get me out of here!" Hacker yelled as he was sucked into the garbage bag of the vacuum.

"Woah, Delete, wait. I-I-I don't think this is such a good idea. Whatever you do, for push the button," Buzz said.

"This button?" Delete asked.

"Don't push the button!"

He pushed it, sending Hacker flying out into Cyberspace. Buzz glared at him.

"What? You said not to listen to you," Delete said.

* * *

"Motherboard! Come in, Motherboard! Are you there? Are you okay?" Inez yelled into her skwak.

"Find! Find! Find-" Motherboard's voice warped as the site began to rebuild itself. "I'm...I'm okay. Thanks, cybermates. You saved me, and cleaned up Cyberspace."

"It was nothing," Matt said.

A portal appeared next to them.

"Until next time," Motherboard said.

"Bye Dige!" the three yelled as they were sucked in.

Sighing happily, the cybird ventured back to the coop and headed home, relieved they had completed their mission, even if it had been a bit closer to the wire than he would have liked.

* * *

Motherboard ended her transmission with the kids, all her attention immediately going to her daughter, who was still in the midst of a panic attack.

"Maddie, listen to me, you're all right, everything is fine. You're at home in Control Central. The Cybersquad stopped the static and everything's fine. Come back to me, come on."

Maddie vaguely heard her mother's voice, seemingly back to normal, and her rocking slowed, just a bit. Noting the reaction, Motherboard continued to speak quietly to her, saying whatever popped into her mind, letting the sound of her voice calm the girl. Ever so slowly, Maddie's rocking ceased, her death grip on her knees slacking and her body uncurling. Her tears slowed, and she began to come back to herself.

"Mama?" she murmured quietly once she got a grip on her surroundings.

"Yes sweetheart, I'm here, I'm safe," Motherboard responded, relieved that the attack was over.

"They did it. They fixed all the satellites."

"Yes, and just in time, too." Silence descended, the only sound the distant thump as Digit landed the coop in the garage. "It was something from the Spheres of Fear, wasn't it?" Motherboard asked, knowing it was the one thing that had terrified the girl beyond belief.

"Mom, please," Maddie pleaded, hoping to keep her in the dark about that particular event.

"Maddie, it's the only thing you've never told me. I know that's what sends you into these fits, and it always happens when I, Digit, or your father is in danger. Please tell me, I want to know what happened."

The girl stayed silent, unsure of whether or not to reveal her secret. On one hand, it could help her immensely once her mother knew. On the other, talking about it could just trigger another attack, or make the ones she already had worse. Unbeknownst to either of them, Digit had made his way up from the garage to check on them, but had stopped outside the doorway when he heard the topic of conversation. He remained quiet, hoping to finally learn what Hacker had done all those years before.

Maddie took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, deciding to let her mother into her mind.

"After Hacker took me, he tried to force me to tell him some of your weaknesses. I refused, and he imprisoned me in a glass sphere and flew me to the Spheres of Fear. My prison was placed inside a seemingly empty sphere and the lock released, allowing me my freedom. It didn't seem dangerous, so I began exploring and studying some of the fauna that grew there." Her eyes began to mist over, her focus lost somewhere in the distance. "Then I heard a scream. It sounded like daddy, so I ran toward it to see what was wrong.

He...he was being tortured! The thing doing it, I assume it was a creeper, he did things no human or cyborg should ever have to see. I screamed and cried, tried desperately to help, but whenever I did it only made it worse. The torture only ended when daddy had..." She sucked in a shaky breath, unable to go on. "Anyway, by that point I was too horrified to consider that everything I had seen wasn't real, that it was only the sphere torturing me. I thought it was over, but then I heard another scream.

It was Digit then, and again I ran to find him. His feathers were being plucked one by one. I couldn't watch, I just curled into a ball and waited until the screams stopped. I hoped and prayed it was over, that there was nothing more to see. And then one more scream pierced the air, yours. I ran to find you, hoping I would get there in time.

You were in this form, in the monitor, and there was a black hole swirling to the side. You were being dismantled piece by piece, and each piece was thrown into the hole." She shuddered, pushing against the memories that threatened to take her once more. "I saw you die, all of you, countless times. Any way I could imagine I saw. Electrocution, viruses, dismantling, destruction, murder...cyberstatic...all of those and more.

I still, to this day, have no clue how long I was actually in the sphere, but it felt like an eternity. It's my worst nightmare, losing my family, and that particular sphere is designed to make you live just that, repeatedly, until you lose your sanity. After that indeterminable amount of time, Hacker opened the gate and took me back into the ship. He demanded I help him in his quest, and I finally lost it. I ripped out his power pack and demanded that Buzz and Delete return me home." She blinked, a single tear running down her face, and looked up at her mother through watery eyes. "Do you understand now why I refuse to talk about it?"

"Oh Maddie," Motherboard murmured, nearly in tears herself.

She had never imagined that that was what had happened, that her young child had seen such horrors. No wonder she'd had nightmares after she'd come home. No wonder she had panic attacks when danger threatened. She understood then, and a part of her wished she hadn't.

"Don't worry about it, Mom. I deal with it, and turn my fears into creative energy."

"You're my daughter, I'll always worry about you. And I can't help but feel guilty. Had I been in control as I should have been and not in cyborg form perhaps Hacker would have been stopped."

"Mom," Maddie sighed, exhausted and emotionally spent, "stop. Nothing you could have done would have deterred him, not that day. I'm fairly sure the only reason he hasn't tried it again is because he didn't get the desired results from the first try."

"Which were?" Motherboard asked warily.

"To break my soul and spirit."

The supercomputer closed her eyes, unable to allow her mind to venture down that path. In the hallway, Digit was stunned, angry, and upset. Like Motherboard he had no idea the extent of Maddie's kidnapping, and the news was some he wished he hadn't heard. The thought of what she must have seen made him sick, and his hatred toward Hacker grew tenfold. He wanted to go in and assure his little sister that the oversized piece of cybertrash would never lay another hand on her, but that would mean revealing that he had eavesdropped on the conversation and he knew that would anger her.

"I can see why you never told your father and I what you experienced," Motherboard said. "However, I'm glad I know now. Perhaps now I can find more sufficient ways to help you."

"You're doing a great job, Mom. In case you didn't notice you brought me out of a panic attack by talking. That's really all I need now. Support and love, and one day I'll take Hacker down for good."

Pure hatred swam in her gaze, and the cyber ruler had no doubt that her daughter would make good on her threat.

"And I'll be with you every step of the way, sis," Digit whispered in the hall.

Hacker would be defeated, even if he had to sell his nonexistent soul to do it.


End file.
